JP, a brilliant inventor and child prodigy, creates the first robots with emotions. The Superstate and the Representative widely use these robots, which are divided into two categories: the Servants and the Entertainers. Over time, a myth emerges about the Lost City of Robots, a place where malfunctioning robots supposedly end up, though no one seems to know exactly where it is. At the height of her creativity and inventiveness, JP is tormented by the enslavement of the robots: she finally wants her "children" to be free. After much research, she creates Pin—the first robot without a discipline chip.

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PIN: What does free will mean?
JP: That you can do what you want.
PIN: And?
JP: It's dangerous.

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"The City of Lost Robots" is a fairy tale for children and adults alike, written by Fotis Dousos and Alexandros Raptis. You don’t need to know Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics (from Runaround, 1942), nor the etymology of the word "robot" coined by Karel Čapek in R.U.R. (1920), to follow the story. The dramatic development of the narrative allows for a full understanding of the place robots hold in human society. However, Dousos and Raptis go a step further, weaving into the action concepts like solidarity, free will, and self-sacrifice—through characters like Gaga and the duo Spin & Span, in scenes that transcend the story and can symbolically connect to real-life situations.

JP’s arrest and torture, as well as the play’s ending, raise profound questions about the purpose of existence, and about hope—faith in higher ideals. In other words, JP and Pin, along with their companions, carve a bright path through the darkness and oppression of the Superstate and its Representative.

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The HIPPO group was founded in 2009 by Alexandros Raptis and Fotis Dousos and is active in both adult and children’s theatre, as well as in Educational Drama. It has produced numerous children’s performances premiered in Athens, Thessaloniki, and London; various theatre-educational workshops for children and youth; and adult performances presented in Greece and the USA.

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Since 2021, HIPPO has run E-school, offering online art seminars for children and adults. In the same year, they received second prize at STRUS, the 1st International Multi-Genre Competitive Festival held in Lviv, Ukraine, for their performance The Emperor’s Dilemma.

Continuing the distinctive style of physical theatre it has pioneered (called kinemo), Hippo Theatre Group presents a show dominated by physical expression, high energy, music, and movement—delivering a rich, entertaining spectacle. The actors always address the audience directly, with all action performed for the viewers, and the performers’ gaze always turned outward.

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The choreography and movement of the Representative (Marinos Orfanos) might remind some—excuse the reference for those born this century—of Inspector Gadget, and I say that with affection, because I liked that cartoon, which was, after all, a cyborg.

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The entire show is powered by the movement and energy of its three actors: Marinos Orfanos, Eleni Papaioannou, and Konstantinos Parasis, who play all the roles with exceptional discipline, consistency, and enthusiasm. Papaioannou and Orfanos make a fantastic duo as Spin & Span, while Parasis, who plays Pin, deeply moves the audience with his final decision—even though he plays a "man with a metal heart."

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Rarely do we see children's shows that aren’t afraid to speak plainly and reveal reality. The play's conclusion leaves the audience in profound silence—the kind that holds empathy and deep understanding of a choice that, although not in the individual’s favor, serves the greater good.

Rightfully, after a brief pause, the finale brings us back—with dance and song—to the celebration of the robots, of Pin, and of liberation.