In this documentary theater project aimed at creating a new play, Lagonisi, director and playwright Georgia Mavragani and cultural historian Christos Mais draw on press coverage, oral testimonies, and recent documentaries to reconstruct the events of a single night. On November 25, 1973, commandos found dictator Georgios Papadopoulos with his wife Despoina at their villa in Lagonisi and informed him that he had been relieved of his duties as leader of “the nation-saving revolution.” His replacement and former friend, Dimitrios Ioannidis, would go on to stage a coup in Cyprus, prompting Turkish military intervention and ultimately the fall of the Greek dictatorship. Through a series of fictionalized conversations between the couple, Lagonisi explores how concerns ranging from the Cold War and student protests to football brought about this decisive moment in Greek history.

Image: Georgios Papadopoulos’ villa in Lagonisi. © Tachydromos 1974