Link of publication:  http://www.parallaximag.gr/parallax-view/san-ta-palia-mpoyloykia

​

Hippo Theatre Group was founded in late 2009, when a group of graduates from the Theatre Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki decided to test their strengths in the field of children’s theatre. We had already taken our first artistic steps in adult theatre, cinema, literature, and music, and we entered this new territory with the purest of intentions. Of course, we had no idea what awaited us. Almost without realizing it, we became a traveling troupe whose artistic and financial survival was directly linked to our mobility. Which, honestly, suited us just fine. From the Middle Ages to the post-war years, theatrical art was inextricably linked to travel. This is a long theatrical tradition that we, to a certain extent (and proportionally, of course), were burning to continue.

​

Thus began an exciting journey (still ongoing) filled with important experiences, great emotional moments, many, many kilometers, new friends and—most importantly—happy children’s faces. We toured all across Greece and repeatedly visited countries such as England, the USA, Canada, Germany, and Cyprus, building strong bridges of friendship wherever we went.

However, we must stress that traveling the world performing children’s theatre is far from an idyllic leisure trip. Conditions are often extremely harsh, and we have frequently come face to face with the limits of our physical and emotional endurance. Moreover, as is widely known, a young audience can be extremely demanding and critical of performances that lack sincerity or harbor hidden self-serving motives. Instinct, aesthetic judgment, and endless hours of work have fortunately prevented us from ever compromising the quality of our productions. We believe that our work stimulates children’s thinking, imagination, and innate creative drive. To achieve such results, we pour all of our energy into what we do.

​

In recent years, the team’s core has stabilized with some permanent and invaluable collaborators:

• Nikos Tsiotsos, who entrusted us with his outstanding, inspired, and original texts.

• Katerina Chatzopoulou, who dressed our productions in her ethereal materials.

• Kalliopi Fykari, who has always been a careful advisor on the theatre-educational aspect of our work and has recently been contributing to the writing as well.

• And finally, the tireless Christiana Kandilioti, a hugely talented actress and long-distance runner.