Nelly’s takes her dog out for a walk, 2003

1 female actress – 2 dancers (1 female and 1 male)

Elena Penga

The piece is an after death monologue of the innovative Greek photographer of the 20th Century, Elli Seraidari, who was worldwide known with the pseudonym Nelly’s.  Nelly’s became famous by taking photos, as early as the 1920’s of nude dancers in front of ancient monuments.  The play was written on the occasion of the Olympic Games of Athens in 2004 in mind.  Nelly’s in the play is to be seen entering the Athen’s subway, looking for her dear dog that she seems to have taken for a walk and lost him.  Underground, inside the subway of central Athens, Nelly’s confronts the modern Greek reality, and talks to the passersbys, nostalgically but somehow painlessly, about the past, and her perceptions of the world she saw then as a photographer.  Nelly’s offers stories of her life, her particular artistic sensitivity, and her strong opinions.  All these are contrasted with a disharmonic modern world and aggressive new customs represented on stage by two silent characters/ dancers.  A product of the coexistence of several arts, and an elegant exercise as a construction, this undertaking is developed horizontally and not vertically, and in that manner values style instead of depth. 

In Greek it is published by Nefeli Publishers. It has been translated in English by the playwright and in Italian by Giusepe Marengo.

PLAYS

Woman and Wolf, 2013

4 male – 4 female

Narcissus, 2011

Monologue for one male actor and 15 men volunteers

Phaedra Or Alcestis, 2007

3 male - 4 female

Who are our new friends?, 2006

4 male – 5 female

Nelly’s takes her dog out for a walk, 2003

1 female actress – 2 dancers (1 female and 1 male)

When the Go-Go Dancers dance, 2002

1 male, 1 female, 1 Go-Go boy, 1 Go-Go girl

3-0-1 TRANSPORTS, 2000

4 male & 4 female

Gorky’s Wife, 1995

3 male, 2 female

ESSAYS

ELENA PENGA'S THEATRE

We die without having learned so many things

Maxim Gorky, Franz Kafka, Kostas Giannidis, Nelly’s, Käthe Kollwitz, Lorca,...