The Courtyard of Miracles

Award-winning director Christos Sougaris (2018 “Karolos Koun” Award) and internationally acclaimed soloist and composer Stefanos Korkolis, have created a special version of the most emblematic work of the modern Greek theatre, Iakovos Kampanellis’ Courtyard of Miracles, in the form of a musical at Megaron.

Iakovos Kambanellis was a Greek poet, playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, and novelist.  Born 2 December 1921 in Hora in the island of Naxos, Kambanellis appeared as one of the most prominent Greek playwrights of the 20th century and he is considered to be the father of modern Greek theater. As a survivor of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, he wrote the lyrics of the “Mauthausen Trilogy” with music by Mikis Theodorakis. He has also written a memoir known as Mauthausen describing his experiences from the concentration camp. He wrote the scripts of at least 12 films and he directed three of them. In addition, he is well known as a lyricist, having written the lyrics in more than 100 songs. He was a member of the board of the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, along with some of the most prominent Greek artists. From 1981 to 1987 he was Director of the Radio section of the Greek National Broadcasting Company (E.R.T.). In 2000 he was elected member of the Academy of Athens. The same year he was awarded the medal of the Order of Phoenix by the President of the Greek Republic. Iakovos Kambanellis was rushed to hospital on 4 February 2011 due to complications of his long-term kidney failure. He died on 29 March 2011, nine days after his wife’s death, of kidney failure.