THE FROGS – REVIEW OF 2025 PRODUCTION AT SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE, LONDON

Reviewed by James Karas

When was the last time you saw a comedy by Aristophanes? He is universally accepted as the great writer of comedy in Ancient Greece but there are few productions of his plays outside of Greece. His comedies are rooted in ancient Athens with references to events current in the fifth century BCE. Understanding them requires references to footnotes and the plays are almost invariably produced in a “version” that can be made comprehensible to a modern audience. 

The version of The Frogs, which is staged at the Southwark Playhouse in London has a long history and a sterling pedigree. It was adapted and staged by Burt Shevelove in 1974 in the swimming pool of Yale University with Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Durang. They were all students at Yale at the time.

Since then, it has received numerous changes including music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and was adapted “even more freely” by Nathan Lane. It has received numerous productions around the U.S., England, Canada and Australia most of them with short runs. It even made it to Lincoln Center where it ran for 90 performances.

Georgie Rankcom has staged a full-throated production in the tiny Southwark Playhouse in the Borough of Southwark. The skeleton of Aristophanes’ play remains but almost everything has changed from the “freely adapted” by Shevelove to the “even more freely adapted by Nathan Lane” and the songs by Sondheim have been changed as well. It’s done in the service of making the classic play funny and understandable to people who are not intimately aware of what was happening in Athens in 405 BCE, that is all of us.

Things are not going well in old Athens and Dionysus, the demigod of the theatre decides to go to Hades, the underworld, and bring a great playwright to fix things. This version is set in old Athens, but it takes place today and Dionysus has Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw as good candidates to revive the great city.

The cast of The Frogs. Photo: Pamela Raith

It sounds boring already, but it is not. Dan Buckley as Dionysus and Kevin McHale as his slave Xanthias are superb comic actors and have some very funny lines. Xanthis prefers to be considered an apprentice rather than a slave. His parents were poor and had to sell him into slavery. He recalls them bargaining with the purchaser and trying to get a better price by offering a mule to go with him. Dionysus wants to go to the underworld as a macho man, like Herakles and he goes to his half-brother Herakles (Jaquin Pedro Valdes) to get an outfit to pass as him. Fact: their daddy Zeus did their mothers and hence the relationship.

There is tomfoolery and modern references that are funny. On seeing Herakles’ beautiful house Xanthis mistakes it for Shaw’s and comments that My Fair Lady must have really paid off.

We meet the frogs and the lazy, good-for-nothing citizens of Athens who want everything to stay as it is. How about a dance routine by frogs? We get a Chorus, and they treat us to Sondheim’s songs which will keep us company throughout.

The travelers need to cross the river Styx with a hilarious Charon (Carl Patrick), the boatman. The Frogs appear and do their number, and we meet Ariadne (Alison Driver), Dionysus’ former wife. All along we are treated to energetic acting, dancing and singing.

In order to decide what poet will return to earth, they propose a contest between Shaw (Martha Pothen) and Shakespeare (Bart Lambert). In the end Shaw reads some lines from Saint Joan and Shakespeare recites lines from Cymbeline. They do not work very well because they are not in keeping with the spirit of the play. The second half fizzes out a bit and a line like “I will throw Ibsen in” when trying to convince Dionysus to take Shaw over Shakespeare is the best we get.

Director Georgie Rankcom creates energy and humour with a talented cast and a play version that we are grateful for.
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The Frogs by Aristophanes et. al. played until June 28, 2025, at the Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD. http://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press

LES MISERABLES - REVIEW OF 1985 LONDON PRODUCTION IN 2025

Reviewed by James Karas 

Les Misérables premiered in London in 1985. It went to Broadway and a slew of travelling companies have taken it around the world. Is there anyone who has not seen it? I raise my hand with trepidation and bow my head before Dionysus, the god of the theatre and plead guilty. (He is also the god of wine, madness and religious ecstasy, but we don’t need to go there.)

I have expiated belatedly my iniquity of omission and have seen the grand musical in remission of my sin. Mea culpa many times. If you have seen the musical, there is no need for you to read my groveling.

It is an astounding show. There are myriads of reasons for it becoming the longest playing musical in London and a hit around the world. It has a grand story based on Victor Hugo’s massive novel. Its plot strands encompass French history in the first half of the nineteenth century intermingled with the story of Jean Valjean, the wretched of France, justice and injustice, good and evil, virtue and vice, love redemption and much more.

The music score by Claude-Michel Schonberg is heroic, epic at times, stentorian, romantic, moving and all-in-all triumphal. Much of the story is dramatic and tragic and the basses of the orchestra come through with astonishing sonority and power. The production has a full orchestra that bedazzles us. The musical is sung-through, and the lead characters and chorus display vocal prowess, drama and beauty to astonishing effect. Ian McIntosh as Valjean, Stewart Clarke as the relentless and merciless Inspector Javert, Annabelle Aquino as Cosette, Amena El-Kindy as Eponine and Jacob Dachtler as Marius sing some beautiful songs with murderous scales. The musical also has some comic scenes especially with the Monsieur and Madame Thenardier couple (Luke Kempner and Claire Machin).

The complicated plot begins with the story of Valjean who was imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. He escapes and is befriended by the Bishop of Digne (Adam Pearce). He steals the Bishop’s silver but when caught the Bishop tells the police that he gave the silver to him. Valjean encounters decency.

Scene from Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre, London 

Valjean becomes rich and decent. He purchases the freedom of Cosette from the Dickensian Thenardiers and does acts of decency as he gains respectability and keeps a step ahead of Javert. But the conditions of the French on the bottom rung of the social ladder are deplorable and the students prepare an uprising. We witness the rebellion and hear the songs of the rebels led by Marius (Jacob Dachtler). Love entanglements enter the plot with appropriate music and songs. Marius loves Cosette and Epinine loves Marius and a battle is brewing between the rebels and the army.

The grand, mobile set reflects the dark events of the plot, and it never ceases to amaze with its effectiveness. The battle scene can almost compete with a Hollywood movie which is saying a lot for a stage musical. Extraordinary use of lights, firepower and war-like sound effects produce a dazzling battle sequence. The set is impressive throughout, but I found the battle scenes the pièce de résistance.

The plot moves fairly briskly among the changes in scene and events. In other words, there is little chance of experiencing any longueurs in the three-hour (including intermission) program.

The denouement shows a wedding scene that includes a wedding march and a waltz with lights shining and happiness in the air. In the end we see the demise of Valjean and a moving chorus that struck me as a requiem for humanity. Moving, beautiful, resonant, spectacular.

The whole thing is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and a boatload of behind-the-scenes artists.

I am not sure if I touched on all the virtues of the production or explained what has kept it running for forty continuous years in London alone. When you see it, start counting the reasons for its success and see how quickly you will run out of digits.
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Les Misérables by Claude-Michel Schonberg (music), Herbert Kretzmer (lyrics), adapted by Trevor Nunn and John Caird from the novel Victor Hugo continues in perpetuity at the Sondheim Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 6BA. https://www.sondheimtheatre.co.uk/ 

JAMES KARAS IS THE SENIOR EDITOR, CULTURE OF THE GREEK PRESS 

THE CRUCIBLE – REVIEW OF 2025 PRODUCTION AT SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE THEATRE, LONDON

Reviewed by James Karas 

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play about witch hunts in late 17^th century Salem Massachusetts and about a powerful indictment of 20^th century witch hunts conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, (HUAC).

In 1682 in Salem everyone believed or was convinced of the existence of witches and highly educated people set out to eradicate those whose souls were seized by the devil. They proceeded to condemn and hang them unless they confessed their sin. If they confessed their sin, their confession and their name would be posted around the town as a humiliating result.

In the 1940’s and 1950’s HUAC pursued people suspected of being Communists and ruined the careers of countless Americans. The witch hunts for Communists or leftists were very much like the events in Salem however superficially different they may appear.

Arthur Miller refused to “name names” of people that he associated with and were members of the Communist Party or other leftist organizations before the Committee and was jailed for a short time. Most people may know little about the McCarthy era, but Miller’s play remains as relevant and powerful as ever.

At its core, the play is about the delusion of the existence of witches and the ability of educated people to recognize, prove their existence and convict and execute people for being infected by witchcraft.

The protagonist of The Crucible is John Proctor (Gavin Drea) a decent farmer caught in the town’s mass hysteria about witches. The instigators are young girls who were seen dancing, maybe naked, in the fields outside the village. One of them is Betty (Scarlett Nunes) the daughter of the firebrand Reverend Parris (Steve Furst) who is speechless the following morning. The story mushrooms into a huge issue when the insecure Reverent Parris calls an expert in the detection of witches. The Reverend  Parris calls Reverend Hale (Jo Stone-Fewimgs), a Harvard educated cleric to examine the situation. He is an intense man who believes he can detect witchcraft.                                           

  

John Proctor and hie wife Elizabeth. Photo: Marc Brenner

The town people are basically decent, but some are inevitably greedy and want to acquire more land, preferably from their neighbors. Parris is suspicious and greedy. The situation gets out of hand when Deputy Governor Danforth (Gareth Snook) starts executing people. The complete departure from logic, and descent into delusion has no bounds. The tragedy that all is delusion and hysteria is not considered because the mere thought of it is beyond the ability of the judges and the people to comprehend.

Proctor and Hale see what is happening and scream that all is fraud but the people in power cannot make the huge leap from delusional conviction to the world of logic and thinking.

John Proctor objects to Rev. Parris’ fire and brimstone type of services and does not attend church regularly. He has also committed the sin of lechery by having sex with his servant (and main witch) Abigail (Hannah Saxby). He and his wife Elizabeth (Phoebe Pryce) along with many villagers will stand accused of witchcraft and most will be sentenced to death.

The judges are self-righteous and arrogant. Judge Hathorne (Stuart McQuarrie who also plays the greedy Thomas Putnam) and Deputy Governor Danforth are fighting the devil, the ultimate evil, and they are prepared and convict people of witchcraft and execute them.

The cast delivers superb performances of a play that is simply terrifying. The young girls who instigate the panic are superb in their unison screaming and terrifying accusations of witchcraft. The large space of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre provides staging difficulties of its own, but the cast and crew bring everything together. Director Ola Ince gets the most credit for organizing all and giving us a superb afternoon at the theatre.

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller continues until July 12, 2025 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 21 New Globe Walk, London. www.shakespearesglobe.com/

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – REVIEW OF 2025 STRATFORD FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas 

The Stratford Festival has produced a supremely beautiful retelling and re-creation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s wonderful story, Anne of Green Gables. For those Canadians that live in caves, be informed that the novel tells the story of Anne (please note the “e”), an orphan who is sent to the farm of Matthew Cuthbert (Tim Campbell) and his sister Marilla (Sarah Dodd). Their house has the distinction of having green gables on its roof.

The problem is that they asked for and expected a boy from the orphanage and the arrival of Anne (Caroline Toal) is extremely disconcerting. But Anne turns out to be a gem of a human being and in Toal’s extraordinary performance a huge gift for the audience. She has a wild, wonderful, romantic imagination and talks at unbelievable speeds. She expresses her feelings in delightful superlatives (I will never…..the most …the best) and is prone to hilarious exaggerations. She has red hair braided in pigtails that she hates and Toal acts with such wonderful panache and passion that she leaves us breathless.

A bit more about the adaptation before I heap praise on the rest of the cast. The novel is set in rural Prince Edward Island in late 19th century. Kat Sandler was commissioned by the Stratford Festival to adapt the novel for the stage and is faithful to Montgomery for the first half of the play. The second half maintains all the characters of the first but takes place today.

The costumes change and we have a 21^st century story. Anne and her classmates graduate from high school, and Anne applies for admission to Oxford University. She has had an “I hate you” relationship with tall and handsome Gilbert (Jordin Hall) that turns into something else, and a rocky relationship with neighbour Rachel Lyne (Maev Beaty). Matthew has a heart attack and Marilla has serious health issues. Anne’s world has changed, and she must decide which road to take. I will not disclose her choice in case you don’t know. The second half has its humour and pathos (was there a dry eye in the theatre at the end of the performance?) but it is different, and its humour does not rise to the hilarity of the first act.    

Tim Campbell as Matthew Cuthbert and Caroline Toal as 

Anne Shirley. Photo: David Hou. 

Tim Campbell gives a superb performance as the quiet, decent and lovable Matthew. He develops an immediate affection for Anne and when Marilla accuses her of stealing a broach, he tells Anne that he knows she did not do it. Campbell is funny, moving and splendid.

The tough and bossy Marilla is done wonderfully by Dodd. She has decency and compassion that is slowly revealed. Beaty is outstanding as usual, and she gains the enmity of Anne by insulting her. Anne strikes back but eventually she shows magnanimity by apologizing.

Sandler has taken an interesting step in her adaptation by adding a Chorus. Aside from Anne, Marilla and Matthew the seven other actors play specific roles, but they also form the Chorus. From the start we are told that we will be told the story of Anne of Green Gables. We have some quick and funny changes as when Gilbert throws on a dress and becomes a woman. The other actors take on roles as teachers and Anne’s classmates. All of this shows versatility and creates of humour. I shall name the balance of them. They are Julie Lumsden (Diana Barry), Anne’s sworn bosom friend, Prissy Andrews (Jennifer Villaverde), Moody Spurgeon (Josue Laboucane), Josie Pye (Helen Belay), and Jane Andrews (Steven Hao). They along with the rest of the cast got a well-deserved standing ovation.

Set and Costume Designer Joanna Yu provided the skeleton of a house with green gables and appropriate long dresses for the 19^th century segment and modern clothes for the 21^st century.

Kat Sandler deserves huge kudos for her adaptation and direction. It showed meticulous attention to detail and pace. A small pause before a reply, a look, a glance were all used to provoke laughter and pathos. Superb work.   

It is funny, moving, vibrant and Canadian.
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Ann of Green Gables, adapted by Kat Sandler from the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery as one of the Schulich Children’s Plays will run in repertory until November 2, 2025, at the Avon Theatre, Stratford, Ontario. www.stratfordfestival.ca

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press

ANYTHING GOES – REVIEW OF 2025 SHAW FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Anything Goes is a classic 1930’s musical that has the virtues and the shortfalls of Depression Era entertainments. Cole Porter was a master creator of melodies and lyrics but in the case of Anything Goes, a pre-Rodgers and Hammerstein work, he was not lucky with the libretto which had pedigreed writers like P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse and, fifty years later, a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.

The Shaw Festival gives a fast-paced and colourful production with some fine singing and outstanding dancing. Kimberley Rampersad directs and choreographs the production with some praiseworthy results and some questionable steps.

Aside from Porter’s delightful songs, the musical does have a slim plot with considerable humour, much of which did not connect with the audience. It is set on a luxurious ocean liner in the 1930’s travelling from New York to London. You know what age you are in when one of the rich characters quips to a woman that he remembers seeing her husband on a ledge just before he jumped after the stock market crashed.

The play has a large array of characters from celebrities to criminals combined with mating rituals, hidden identities and plot twists that I probably missed. There is the stowaway Billy Crocker (Jeff Irving) who is in love with Hope Harcourt (Celeste Catena) who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Allan Louis) who is “interested” in Reno Sweeney (Mary Antonini). The latter is a former evangelist who has become a fantastic nightclub singer with a heart of gold. 

The cast of Anything Goes (Shaw Festival, 2025). 

Photo by David Cooper.

Billy works for millionaire Eli Whitney (Shawn Wright) who is also in love and ready to get married but is outwitted. And wait until you meet Charity (Jade Repeta), Chastity (Jaden Kim), Purity (Kiera Sangster) and Virtue (Mikayla Stradiotto). And we do have some major crooks like Public Enemy No. 1 to keep a balance of good and others.

The dances choreographed by Rampersad are marvelous. I have not seen such rousing, fast and gorgeous tap dancing except in old movies. You can see them in Anything Goes. They are athletic, precise, coordinated and simply amazing.

The singing is good but Mary Antonini as Reno outperforms everyone with her outstanding vocal beauty and prowess. She has a full-throated voice and dominates the stage whenever she sings, she steals the show with “I get a kick out of you” sings “You’re the Top” and leads everyone in “Anything Goes” and kicks butt in “Blow Gabriel, Blow.”

As director, Rampersad sets a breakneck pace but I would have preferred less activity during some songs. Making singers run up the stairs and slide down the banister takes away from the song and does not offer much else. And somehow, amid all the activity much of the humour simply did not register. Admittedly, some of the humour is not very good, but even some good lines did not go over well.

The sets and costumes by Cory Sincennes were very good.  The American SS is for the rich and those who want to be rich. The revolving stage gives us a good view of the ship and provides lots of opportunities for kinetic energy to be displayed.

The show is carried by Cole Porters wonderful songs and the extraordinary dancing and is certainly worth seeing. There is not much that can be done about the creaky plot and we can hope that the humour will come out in future performances.
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Anything Goes by Cole Porter (music and lyrics) and a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Wedman continues in repertory until October 4, 2025,  at the Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. www.shawfest.com.

JAMES KARAS IS THE SENIOR EDITOR, CULTURE, OF THE GREEK PRESS

LEAVING HOME – REVIEW OF 2025 MATCHSTICK THEATRE PRODUCTION AT COAL MINE THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas 

Leaving Home is David French’s first full-length play and it premiered at the Tarragon Theatre, Toronto in 1972. French wrote about a dozen full length plays but he has all but disappeared from the Toronto theatre scene. He was one of the most frequently produced Canadian playwrights and his plays were staged around the world. What happened?

As with so much more, we should be grateful to Coal Mine Theatre for importing the current production by Matchstick Theatre from Halifax. It is a superb production that deserves praise and being seen and praised by all.

Leaving Home is French’s first play about the Mercer family who immigrated to Toronto from Newfoundland in the late 1950’s. He wrote five plays about them and they are “related” to the writer’s family. The Mercer family consists of the parents, Jacob (Andrew Musselman) and his wife Mary (Shelley Thompson), and their two sons Bill (Sam Vigneault) and Ben (Lou Campbell). Bill is getting married and he and his fiancée Kathy (Abby Weisbrot) are having their wedding rehearsal and everyone is getting ready to go to church. Kathy’s mother Minnie (Sharleen Kalayil and her boyfriend Harold (Sebastian Labelle) also arrive at the Mercer kitchen.

Harold deserves an honorable mention. He is an embalmer in a funeral home, where Minnie met him when burying her husband, and he does not utter a word. Most of the time he sits on a couch observing what the others are doing and he is hilarious. You must see him to believe it.

The Mercers are a dysfunctional family where emotions run deep and arguments are simply violent and that includes serious physical altercations. Jacob is a foul-mouthed, short-tempered man who lashes at his wife and children with uncontrollable furor. He thinks his wife and children do not respect him and the invectives he unleashes against everyone are terrifying. But underneath the abusive language we believe that there is love. Musselman does an outstanding job of vilifying his children and wreaking havoc. He may have love in his veins but most of the time we see a monster. 

Shelley Thompson and Andrew Musselman in Leaving Home.
Barry McCluskey/Matchstick Theatre

His wife Mary is the peacemaker of the family but she is not successful except perhaps in the final scene of the play. We get a bravura performance by Shelley Thomson as a woman caught in a family maelstrom. Lou Cambell’s Ben is a sensitive son who wants to leave the family because he is growing up and perhaps escape the unbearable violence of the family. He has just graduated from high school. He tries not to express hatred toward his father but wants to leave and grow up. His father’s violence is focused on him who is seen as a traitor of the family. Cambell plays the sympathetic, shy youngster superbly.

Bill is in high school but he got Kathy pregnant and is about to marry her. She informs him that she lost the baby and he is not sure he wants to go through with the marriage. Kathy is unsure of his feelings for her and  she vacillates between wanting to go on with the wedding and calling it quits. We are not sure about their relationship but we are certain about the acting ability of Vigneault and Weisbrot.

Minnie comes flying into the Mercer home with a faux fur coat and new boyfriend, Harold the Formaldehyde Kid. Jacob calls her a slut in one of his rages and she may well be with her newfound wealth from her deceased husband. Fine work by Kalayil.

The set by Scenic Designer Wesly Babcock shows an ordinary kitchen and living room which indices a working class 1950’s house. Director Jake Planinc marshals the emotional violence of the dysfunctional family as well as the underlying love and keeps us in thrall to the final lyrical denouement. This is realist theatre of the highest order and one wonders why the work of French has been shoved under the carpet after being so popular.

We want more. 

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Leaving Home by David French continues until June 22, 2025, at the Coal Mone Theatre in a production by Matchstick Theatre at 2076 Danforth Ave. Toronto, (northwest corner of Woodbine and Danforth). www.coalminetheatre.com/

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press

AFTER THE RAIN – REVIEW OF 2025 TARRAGON THEATRE PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas

After the Rain is an interesting musical that deals with family love and conflict, the story of a band, friendship, mentorship and the search for self-assertion. It has a rich collection of songs, of course, but also intimations and more about the making of music and the writing of songs. 

The Tarragon Theatre has built seats on both sides of the theatre and there is a raised platform in the center. It is equipped with an excellent sound system and the actor/singers use mikes. In other words, we get superb acoustics.

The central character is Suzie (Annika Tupper), a lively host and talented musician who needs to find her own voice. That means she needs to break away from her parents, band leader Ashley (Andrew Penner) and her mother Jean (Deborah Hay). Suzie, in addition to musical talent, has charm and humour and is able to engage the audience and evoke rich laughter.

Suzie is forced to take a job as a piano instructor when her father is unable to fulfil his obligation. She has to teach a mature student, Donna (Deborah Hay) who wants to learn to play one one piece, Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No.1.

The cast consists of Suzie and her parents and the drummer JD Kinkel (Joe "Jojo" Bowden) and guitarist Mickey Mintz (Brandon McGibbon). Penner doubles as Donna’s husband Frank and Donna’s son Julian is played by Shaemus Swets.

 Annika Tupper and Deborah Hay in After the Rain – 

A Tarragon Theatre & The Musical Stage Company production. 

Photo by Dahlia Katz.

Rose Napoli has created some distinct and interesting characters that are sympathetic even in periods of conflict. Suzie is a talented musician, charming and lovable. But she comes into conflict with her parents because she needs to spread her wings. Her father is also a talented musician, from a previous age, but he is assertive,  sings well but disagrees with his daughter. The same can be said of Jean and kudos are given to Deborah Hay. Hay plays Donna, a woman of a certain age with little time to waste. She is decent and wonderful. Her son Julian starts off as a duffus but matures through music and Swets is superb.

In addition to the superb and well-coordinated cast, the show has high production values which are essential in any production but perhaps more so in a musical. The set design by David Boechler with the raised playing area, as I mentioned, has places for two pianos, one baby grand the other small keyboard played by Suzie and Jean respectively. Sound Designer Brian Kenty has set up the equipment for maximum effect and listenability. Lighting Designer Logan Raju Cracknell provides judicious lighting for the music and singing and the other emotional levels of the play.

Donna must do some fast costume changes and entrances on the stage and again we have intelligent pacing. All of which adds to the huge responsibilities of Director Marie Farsi and Music Director Rachel O’Brien. They manage their spheres with consummate professionalism and talent.

In the end we see the creation of songs, the preparation and disagreements of a new album for the group and the humour and drama of family dynamics as well as the story of Donna, Frank and Julian.

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After The Rain  by Rose Napoli (book) and Suzy Wilde (music and lyrics), in a production by Tarragon Theatre and The Musical Stage Company, will run until June 22, 2025, at the Tarragon Theatre 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto, Ontario.  www.tarragontheatre.com

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press