Synopsis
“Me, Her Servant” by Vangelis Hatziyannidis is a subversive monologue that revisits the myth of Hecuba through the eyes of her nameless, faithful servant, who is called to account for her deeds before an invisible tribunal. The Servant dismantles the image of the grieving queen, exposing Hecuba’s arrogance and self-absorption, a woman who demands absolute submission even in captivity. In a raw, vivid narration, she recounts the events after the fall of Troy: the sacrifice of Polyxena and the murder of Polydorus, which drive Hecuba to revenge. The Servant becomes the instrument of the plan, luring Polymestor and his children into the trap. A profoundly anti-war work about power, obedience and the price always paid by the nameless innocent.
In our interpretation, the servant girl, once invisible and anonymous, becomes a worldly ambassador of Hellenism. With humor and candor, she speaks of profound truths and of a dark and violent world, which, unfortunately, remains tragically relevant.
Accessibility
- In Greek, with German and Greek surtitles for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences (SDH)
- Greek Sign Language interpretation
The playwright
Vangelis Hatziyannidis was born in Serres in 1967. He studied law at the University of Athens and acting at the Veaki Drama School. After finishing his studies, he worked for a time as an actor, but writing soon won him over, and he has since built a rich and wide-ranging body of work.
Between 2000 and 2022, he published four novels and a collection of short stories, along with fifteen plays. Several of his books have been translated and published in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian and Turkish.
His literary career began with major distinctions: his first novel, Four Walls (2000), received the Diavazo magazine Award for a Debut Prose Writer and, in its French edition, the international Laure Bataillon Prize (2004). In 2023 he was awarded the Greek State Literature Prize for his novella Your Name. His writing for the stage has also won international recognition, with his play Light on the Screen receiving the Audience Award (Autorenpreis) at the Heidelberg Stückemarkt theater festival in 2013.
Credits
Cast
Creative team
Video
After the performance · 21.00
Talkback with the audience
In conversation with the playwright Vangelis Hatziyannidis (via video)
Moderation: Violeta Lupis
Immediately after the performance, the playwright of “Me, Her Servant” talks openly with the audience. How is a voice like the Servant's born? What does it mean to give a voice to a person whom history has left anonymous? What keeps a text alive when it travels into another language and another city? The conversation takes its course from the questions of those in the room.