Martha Mavri | Architecture & Scenography

"In Search of Helen" is a theatrical work by Natasa Dailiani presented at the Omega Stage of the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus. Inspired by a true story set during the Greek Resistance and the Civil War, the performance follows Panagiota, a woman living with her husband in a small village in Thessaly. An unexpected event and a symbolic dream bring unresolved memories to the surface, leading her to confront a long-suppressed past.

Stage image from my archive

For this project, I designed both the scenography and the costumes. The scenographic proposal was conceived as a restrained and minimal environment, developed in close dialogue with the director’s approach and in relation to the architectural characteristics of the Omega Stage. Moving away from realism, the space operates in a suspended sense of time, where past and present coexist. Clean, reduced volumes and a limited palette of browns and beige tones reference the rural landscape while evoking confinement and emotional stillness, as if recalled through memory with half-closed eyes. A defined floor surface frames the action, creating a field within which the characters remain contained, while the only opening to the outside world is a window—suggesting life observed from a distance. This window transforms into a projection surface, alternating between dream imagery and documentary interviews.

Costumes were developed in continuity with the scenographic language, supporting the performers’ presence within the space and reinforcing the relationship between body, memory, and environment.

Set and Costume proposal — 3D visualization | Artistic research

Model box, scale 1:50 | Municipal Theatre of Piraeus – Omega Stage

Model box, scale 1:50

Written and Directed by: Natassa Dailiani

Dramaturgy Consultant: Vicky Mavrogonatou
Movement: Katerina Drakopoulou
Set and Costume Design: Martha Mavri
Sound Design: Petros Bouras
Lighting Design: Vasilis Klotsotiras
Assistant Director: Dimitra Skempi
Teaser -Video Performance: Evangelia Kappi
Production Management: Danae Grammennou
Production: gARTen

Cast

Maria Tsima
Thanasis Chalkias
Natassa Dailiani