After a remarkable journey that left a powerful mark on the Greek theatrical scene, the acclaimed play by Konstantinos Ntellas “The old women who harvest the nettle”, by the Thessalian Theatre, comes to Cyprus for the first time, in the framework of the Nicosia International Festival 2025. The performance will take place on Thursday, 23 October 2025, at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre (20:30).
Inspired by Thessalian folklore, Dellas directs a play which serves as a stage approach to the female body in old age and its connection to folk magic, cooking, and ritual practices. According to Thessalian tradition, the “witches” inherited their secret skills from Medea, who once cast her bag of magical herbs over the region, making them masters of bringing down the moon, also known as “milking the moon”.
The nettle: A “misunderstood” herb
At the centre, and as a symbol of the performance lies the nettle. A “misunderstood” herb that stings when you touch it, yet it also heals. Just like the old women in the play. Sometimes cooks, sometimes witches, sometimes healers, and at other times outcasts — excluded and socially isolated. Through stories, legends, and personal narrations, these old women speak – at last – reclaiming their voices.
Three men, three old ladies
Konstantinos Ntellas chose male actors, young in age, to embody the three elderly female figures. The performers are challenged to inhabit the bodies, gestures, and individualities of women in their elderly years. This is not merely a theatrical device, but a gesture of deep empathy and respect towards the female experience, matriarchal wisdom, and the “invisible” women of the past. The transformation is both striking and subversive. The actors wear masks etched with wrinkles of time, their bodies appear worn by manual labour, “unadorned,” invisible beneath black garments, and deemed insignificant when they have not fulfilled their mission, “reproduction”. They speak of their lives in the shadow of male-dominated power, navigating the space between the familiar and the archetypal, between the harmless “grandmother” and the dangerous healer, and they speak of what they learned from the past ones, what they endured as women, and what they now pass on to the next ones. “The old women who harvest the nettle” is a play you do not watch. You experience it. It is a tribute to the women who raised us. To our grandmothers. To the healers of our lives.
What the said about the performance
“Through free association and his intuitive sense, Ntellas composes a text that is both accessible and poetic.” – Nikos Xenios, bookpress.gr
“A moving, handcrafted production created by ‘male hands’, like a tender gesture of understanding from the director and the three actors, paying homage through their grandmothers to the Greek women of the past.” – Tonia Karaoglou, Athinorama
“A blend of documentary and physical theatre, often evoking the chorus of ancient tragedy. The three male actors – a brilliant choice – portrayed the movements of these women superbly (reminding us all of some… grandmothers, aunts, old neighbours).” – Olga Sella, O Anagnostis
“Perhaps one of the most profound theatrical ‘manifestos’ against patriarchy, which is both powerful and tender, shedding all forms of dogmatism and fanaticism.” – Eleni Koutsileou, elculture.gr
“Watching the performance you get a strange sense of familiarity. It’s like entering an old house filled with memories, faces, and voices you thought you had forgotten… You experience it like a ritual.” – Maria Valtzaki, Monopoli
“It is simply a magical play. In every sense! Three old women which are incredible, dynamic, witty, mystical, tormented, they dance, sing, mourn. They endure brutality. Such an imaginative, rhythmical work with flawless physical expression. It’s astonishing how the three young male actors approach womanhood through the masculine, even more so the aged female body, with such mastery.” – Pavlos Lemontzis, thesspress.gr
“A performance of great collectible value. It’s imperative that we all keep it stored in our memory, in the inner drawer where we keep what is precious and sacred. It is the centuries-long story of the creation of the world and its evolution to this day, seen through the gradual emancipation of women.” – Lena Savva, theatro.gr
Credits
Direction - research- dramaturgy: Konstantinos Ntellas
Cast: Michalis Anagnostou, Manousos Georgopoulos, Platonas Giorgos Perleros
Soundscapes & original music: Alexandros Ktistakis
Movement: Mariza Tsiga
Mask construction: Martha Foka
Costume supervisor: Konstantina Mardiki
Assistant to the director: Artemis Leptokaropoulou
Photography & promotional video: Charalambos Vlachodimos, Ilias Lachanas
Editing: Stylianos Vlachodimos
Production director: Vicky Barboka
Production: Experimenta Art Co.
The costume design is generously sponsored by the Lyceum Club of Greek Women.
Surtitles in Greek and English will be displayed during the performance, making it accessible to audiences with hearing difficulties.
Duration: 90΄ without interval
Age group: 15+
Tickets:
Available online via more.com:
http://bit.ly/4grNxB8 and the Nicosia Municipal Theatre box office (Monday - Friday 10:00-13:00).
Ticket prices:
VIP: €24/ €27
ZONE A: €23/ €25
ZONE B: €21/ €23
ZONE C: €19/ €21
ZONE D: €17/€19
Reduced tickets are valid for: Children, students, soldiers, pensioners, large families, unemployed, actors, people with disabilities (free) with presentation of relevant ID.
Information: 22797979 (Monday - Friday 10:00-13:00)
&
http://bit.ly/3VjZ0ZG
Festival identity
Organisers: Nicosia Municipality, Nicosia For Art
Festival sponsors: OPAP Cyprus, CYTA, more.com, Italian Embassy, Cyprus Public Transport
Supporters: Travelhouse, UCLan Cyprus, WINECORE, Gate Twenty Two Boutique Hotel, Classic Hotel Nicosia
Media sponsors: DIAS Publishing & SIGMA TV, LOVE FM 100.7, and “KATHIMERINΙ” newspaper