Lydia Koniordou

Lydia Koniordou was born in Athens in 1953. She studied English philology at the University of Athens and graduated from the National Theatre’s drama school. Music and dance formed part of her training alongside acting. Her professional development brought her into contact with directors including Alexis Minotis, Karolos Koun and Kostas Tsianos, across different approaches to classical and modern theatre.

Her career also belongs to Greece’s regional theatre network. She worked with the municipal theatres of Larissa, Volos and Patras, and served as artistic director in Volos and Patras. This activity connected performance, directing and teaching beyond the capital. In a television interview, she recalled playing in village squares, open spaces and schools, explaining how strongly these encounters with audiences remained in her memory.

Teaching became another sustained part of her practice, including work at the National Theatre school and Greek university theatre departments. Shanghai Theatre Academy documents an ancient-drama workshop in 2014 and her direction of Alcestis with students in 2015. These exchanges carried theatrical methods across languages. She also served as Greece’s culture and sports minister from 2016 to 2018. Her later television work added another setting for the voice and movement developed on stage.

In the National Theatre’s 1978 Φοίνισσες (The Phoenician Women), directed by Alexis Minotis, Koniordou participated in the chorus and alternated as Antigone. In 1996 she directed Sophocles’ Ηλέκτρα (Electra) and played its title role. The production used a Modern Greek translation by Giorgos Heimonas. After Epidaurus, it toured in Greece and travelled to Toronto and New York.

Her repertoire also extends beyond antiquity. In the National Theatre’s Γέρμα (Yerma) in 2000, directed by Kostas Tsianos, she interpreted Lorca’s central character. This was a Greek production of a Spanish play, not a work originally written in Greek. The distinctions between an ancient source, a modern translation and a contemporary performance matter when choosing learning materials.

In Shanghai, her 2015 Άλκηστη (Alcestis) was a student production documented by the host academy; an international Greek-drama project does not automatically provide Greek-language dialogue. Television offered another context from 2021, when she appeared as Margarita in Η γη της ελιάς (The Land of the Olive Tree). In her 2022 interview on MEGA’s Eleni, she discussed the different world of the camera and explained that theatre communicates through movement as well as words.

Koniordou’s contribution combines interpretation, directing and the transfer of theatrical practice through teaching. Her regional work also places audiences outside major urban stages within the history of contemporary Greek theatre.

For Greek practice, listen to her short interview statement about words and theatre, using the supplied translation. Notice a pause, then try your own phrase Σε ακούω, “I’m listening to you”, first calmly and then more firmly. Keep the words unchanged and describe the difference: Μιλάω ήρεμα, “I speak calmly”; Κάνω μια παύση, “I make a pause”. Read the adapted passage first. This supported B1 task develops attentive speech; gestures can aid interpretation, but do not replace understanding unfamiliar words or make every tragedy an easy Greek lesson.

• Born in Athens in 1953.
• Graduate of the National Theatre’s drama school.
• Director and title-role performer in Electra, 1996.