ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE CULTURAL ORGANIZATION PROVA
SOTIRIS TSOGAS HAS PASSED AWAY
Director, Actor, Speech Education Professor, Writer, Researcher.
THE THEATRE MAN OF OUR HEART IS NO LONGER HERE
The family, associates and students of the PROVA theatre mourn its co-founder.. the great theatre man Sotiris Tsogas. The theatre stage was his home. A creator in every sense of the word. A man of kindness, ethics and dignity, a multi-award winning actor and director with principles and respect for his collaborators, a great professor in the art of acting and a researcher in speech education. A unique connoisseur of the Greek language, writer and poet. His love for the art of theatre in its entirety was what made him one of the most acclaimed artists in Greece for more than 50 years.
His family: his wife, actress Mary Razi, life partner and on-stage companion for 42 years, who fell in love with him at first sight and together they founded the PROVA theater, his daughter, actress Coralia Tsoga, who adored him and followed him every step of the way in the theater, his grandson Perseas Tsoga Mainas (a little budding Tsoga, as Mary Razi used to say), his sister Nana Tsoga always by his side, Angeliki Razi and actor Hyakinthos Mainas, his son-in-law, inextricably linked to Sotiris Tsoga and the precious institution of the family, will say their final goodbyes at the funeral service that will be held on Saturday, June 20 at 12:00 at the Zografou municipal cemetery.
Sotiris Tsogkas was born in September 1951 in Thissio. He graduated from the Deutsche Schule Athen – Doerpfeld Gymnasium (holder of Empfehlung) and from the Drama School of the Athens Conservatory (1973). He attended Law courses at the University of Athens and Theater Seminars (directing – vocal – functional breathing) in Tuebingen, former West Germany. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the State Theater of Northern Greece (NTNG) as a representative of the S.E.I. from 1984 to 1988. He is a member of the Society of Greek Directors (S.E.S.).
As an actor, he participated since 1972 (with special permission) in the troupes: Myrat - Zoumboulakis (Athens Theater), where he performed main roles in dozens of works of the classical and contemporary repertoire (72 to '82), as well as in the Tragedies: "Antigone" by Sophocles (Guardian) and "Hecabe" by Euripides (Talthybius) at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and in other ancient Theaters throughout Greece and Cyprus, of Anna Fonsos (Orvos Theater), Christos Politis - Antipas (Aplo Theater), Dimitris Ioakeimidis (Polytechno) and in other Athenian troupes at shorter intervals. In the late 70s, he presented, together with his late teacher Dimitris Myrat, from the stage of the Athens Theater, Plato's "Symposium" and the "Gospel According to Mark" in the Elementary School.
Founding member of the Ermou-Prova Street Theater (1984). He acted in the plays: “Pipila” by G. Hasapoglou, “Lokantiera” by K. Goldoni, “Matchmaking” by N. Gogol (a play presented after an invitation in Poland), “Behind Closed Doors” by Z.P. Sartre.
He directed mainly Greek plays in regional theater groups and in the rural prisons of Tiryns. At the Municipal Theater of Zografou, from '91 to '98, he directed the following plays: “Victor or the Children in Power” by R. Vitrak, “Biderman and the Arsonists” by M. Fris, “The Broken Pitcher” by Kleist (this performance was selected by the “New Theater” and performed at the College of Athens), “The Imaginary Patient” by Moliere, “Interruption for Technical Reasons” by Sacconi, “Testimonies” – One-Act Plays by Kostoula Mitropoulou and Paris Takopoulos, “Antigone” by Anouig, “Wrestlers” by Stratis Karras.
At the Ermou Street Theater, he directed from 1993 to 1999. He staged the plays: “The Wonderworker” by Lorca, “Duel of Women” by Scrib, “Love and Punishment” by Caragiale (a performance that was selected and presented at the International Festival of Târgoviște in Romania), “The Contract” by Mrozek, “The Lovers of Viorv” by M. Dîra (a play that he translated), “The Shoes” by Kostoula Mitropoulou, “The Room with the Mandarins” by R. Tomas (performances also at the Lycabettus Theater, in which he also participated as an actor). One-act plays by Bost, Takopoulos, Patsis, Simitzis and Panagopoulos. Period 1999-2001: He translated Ephraim Kisson's play "Will You Take Something, Mr. Shakespeare?" and participated as an actor in the performances of this play, which were given at the Knossos Theater.
Period 2002 – 2004: Directs and acts in “Five Finger Exercise” by P. Shaffer at the new roof of the Prova Theater. 2004-2005: Directs and acts in “Quartet Behind the Curtain” by Ronald Harwood. Period 2005-2006: Directs and acts in “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” by Bernard Shaw. 2006-2007: Directs and acts in “LA MAMMA” by André Roussin. He took part in the premiere of the “One-Act” series of ET1, in the play “Whatever You Say, My Love” by G. Dialegmenos, directed by G. Remoundos. 2007-2008: Directs “Flandre” by Pantelis Horn. Period 2008-2009: Directs and acts in “Dracaina” by Dimitris Bogris.
He founded and directed the Experimental Stage of the Prova Theatre, under the name "THE MYSTERIES". He directed and performed "Oedipus", in the first play of this Stage, entitled "THE LESSON SUFFERED" excerpts from Aeschylus - Sophocles - Euripides, which was presented at the 3rd Athens Festival of Attic Groves, in August 2009. He published, in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Greek Academy of Sciences, a study and research manual of Ancient Greek Tragedy, entitled "THE LESSON SUFFERED". 2009-'10: He directed and starred in the play "One Night, One Life" by Spyros Melas. At the Experimental Stage of the Prova Theatre, he directed Copi's play "The Night of Mrs. Lucien". 2010-11: Adapts and directs VERGA's "Lycaina", in which he also participates as an actor. 2011-2012: Directs "THE MYSTERIES" at the Experimental Stage of the Prova Theater, the play "Kafka in Conversation with Gudrun Enslin". 2012: Directs the play "Rosa" by Panagiotis Mentis and the unplayed play "The Road" by Iakovos Kambanellis. 2013: Directs and stars in "Brainwashing" by John Wright. 2014: Directs and stars in the play "AT THE EDGES", a composition of two monologues by Kostoula Mitropoulou. 2015: “Violinist on the Roof” at the Badminton Theater, directed by Rob Ruggiero, he plays the role of the Rabbi. Performances also at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall. 2016: He adapts, directs and stars in “The Monster and I”, based on the book of the same title by Stamatis Malelis. The play was awarded the first NIKOS ZAKOPOULOS award for the period 2016-2017 by the Academy of Arts as the best play of the year. 2017-2018: He directs and stars in “The Room with the Mandarins” by Robert Thomas.
Awards: From the 3rd International Inter-Balkan Theatre Festival 2018, he was awarded the "Best Actor" award for his performance in the play "The Monster and Me". Directing award for the play "The Mandarin Room". Directing award for the play "The Monster and Me".
He has taken part in G. Agathonikiadis' films "AUTUMN RETURN", "THE STRANGER" and "BITTER SNOW" which were filmed in the Czech Republic (co-productions of ET1). He has worked for many years as a director, actor, writer and translator-adapter on Radio and Television.
Under the guidance of Myrat and Horn, he took part in practical applications of the “SLEEP – EDUCATION” method and participated in the effort of the State Radio and Television to improve the pronunciation of Greek in the media and to “hellenize” foreign terminology, in collaboration with the Department of Neologisms of the Academy of Athens.
As a professor, he has been teaching Acting, Speech Therapy and Breathing since 1987: a. In central and regional seminars of the Ministries of Education and Culture. b. At the Stoa Theatre of Thanasis Papageorgiou (European subsidized program). c. At the European College of Athens. d. At Drama Schools. e. At the “Antenna” and “Star” School of Journalism. f. At the Lakis Kouretzis Day Theatre g. At the Theatre Studies Workshop of the Municipality of Zografou. h. At the Ermou Street Theater Workshop-Prova, which he directed until 1999. i. At the Mary Razis Higher School of Dramatic Art “The Rehearsal”, Acting and Speech Education j. At the students of Modern Greek and Classical Philology at the “LOMONOSOFF” University of Moscow, Speech Education k. Scientific associate of Speech Education at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He collaborates with the School of Modern Greek Language of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. with the subjects Speech Education and Dramatization of Texts. l. At the Hellenic-American Union m. At the IEK DOMI. n. Since 2000 he has founded and directs the STANDARD ANXIETY AVOIDANCE CENTER “the cheerfulness”. Total certified teaching hours of over eighteen thousand (18.000).
His translations, short stories, poems and articles on Theatre and the Greek Language have been published in Literary Magazines and are published in books. He has been honored with the 1st Panhellenic Poetry Award of ENEL. He recently published a book under the pseudonym “Nifon” and titled: “Proverbs from Proverbs”. Also a Poetry Collection titled: “Poems of Dreams, Love, Solitude and Death”.
He participated with the Mary Razis Higher School of Dramatic Art “The Rehearsal” in the fifth (2005) & sixth (2006) International Festival of Dramatic Schools “YPERION” held in Bucharest. (The performance he directed was awarded the Jury Prize). In September 2006 he participated in the 2nd International Theatre Festival in Braila, Romania with the play “Mrs. Warren’s Profession”, which he directed. His name is included in the Who Is Who Encyclopedia (ed. 3/2009).
Sotiris Tsogas Family
Mary Razi
Coralia Tsoga
Perseas Tsogas Mainas
Hyacinth Maina
Nana Tsoga
Angeliki Razi
