Ourania Papanikolaou
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001 (Director & Co-Creator) 2020 – 2022

Bouboulina: Untold

“An original work about the life of Laskarina Pinotsi before she became the Bouboulina of History.”

In the back yard of her home, beside a line of freshly washed white clothes, Laskarina recounts through a confessional tone, her loves, her moments of loss, and her deep affection for the sea. A story about all the previously unspoken reasons that make her a symbol of feminism and defiance long before her participation in the Revolutionary Struggle.

“The only performance dedicated to a woman of the revolutionary struggle.”

Alexia Altouva, Assistant Professor at the Department of Theatre Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA)

The play was presented in Barcelona 2022 as part of the 6th Congress of Neohellenists of the Iberian Penisula and Latin America. As part of its theatre run, it traveled to Athens and Thessaloniki

Read my article on ampa Lifo here →
Trailer
A performer in a beige dress trailed with red thread reaches an arm upward toward the light, framed by hanging white curtain panels
A blurred silhouette of a woman in a white dress and curly hair glimpsed through a gap in white fabric panels
A woman kneels scrubbing her hands in a large stone basin as a man in overalls stands watching in the background
A performer's legs and boots pass a wooden stool holding a carafe and glass of red liquid, their shadow cast in profile on the curtain behind
The two performers stand back to back on a bare stage, holding hands behind them, lit by a row of overhead stage lights beyond an open doorway of white curtains
A woman in a white dress stands lit between hanging white curtain panels, with a man's silhouette watching from the side
A woman in a beige dress trailed with red threads leans forward mid-speech between hanging curtains, beside a rough stone basin
The three cast members pose together against a cream backdrop, one woman with arms crossed, a seated woman resting her chin on her hand, and a man looking upward
A man in profile stands back to back with a woman in a pale dress trimmed with red thread, both looking in opposite directions
A man holds a small mirror reflecting a woman's face, her curly hair visible in the foreground
A man rests his head against a woman's shoulder as she holds his head, his hand resting on her shoulder in return
Production Photos by Stewart Bywater
Performance Photos at Avlaia Theatre Thessaloniki by Kostis Chatzis

Set Design and Videography

This work began with my travels to Spetses, where visiting Bouboulina’s house and speaking at length with her great‑great‑grandson Pavlos Bouboulis, became integral in shaping my understanding of her inner world. Those encounters offered a living thread into her psyche, one that guided the conceptual and emotional architecture of the piece and directed how we designed the set. Our white panels served as reminders of white clothes hung to dry, evoking a backyard suspended in time. These surfaces became active projection fields where video material operated, creating a dialogue between the character’s present reality and the memories that continued to shape her.

Fishing Boat
Window
Birds
Grave

Cast

Directing, Research & Dramaturgy
Ourania Papanikolaou
Laskarina
Lena Petropoulou
Yannos
Mihalis Darnakis
Set Design
Marilena Georgantzí
Costumes
Too Soon Theatre Company
Lighting Design
Giorgos Kassakos
Videography & Video Mapping
Athina Pavlou Benazi
Music & Sound Design
Marios Apostolakoulis, 11 Grey Studio: creator's lab
Singing
Polyphonic Choir Aetopetras
Poster Design
Andili Rachouti
Trailer
Iliana Meidani
Scientific Collaborator
Giannis Dimitriou
Production Management
Too Soon Theatre Company