Maria Protopappa plays the Colombian painter Emma Reyes.

‘I paint ordinary people on the street. My paintings are like silent screams, full of colour. The monsters that emerge from my hand are people, gods or animals, or a bit of all of them together.” Maria Protopappa’s ‘EMMA’, an adaptation based on the book Memories by Correspondence (trans. Maria Palaiologou), written by the Colombian painter Emma Reyes at the urging of Gabriel García Márquez, is being staged from 27 February at the Second Stage of the Kefallinias Street Theatre, for 10 performances, every Monday and Tuesday. The theatrical world of ‘EMMA’ appeals to the senses, not the mind. It is a three-dimensional painting or a song in prose. Through the eyes of a four-year-old child, it brings to life early 20th-century Colombia, within an atmosphere of Latin American mysticism and Catholic austerity. It is inspired by the life of a female Oliver Twist who, through her courage, innocence and unbridled imagination, managed to survive in harsh conditions, travel the world and excel in Europe as an artist.-Who showed you love when you were a child? -I don’t remember us having such worries...The legend of ‘Emma Reyes’ was born in Bogotá in 1919. She grew up without parents or an identity. She died in Bordeaux, France, in 2003, aged 83, from an unknown virus.Her writing is oral and unpretentious, as she was illiterate: “I value what you have lived through more, and what you have read much less.” Contributors Adaptation-Performance: Maria ProtopappaTranslation: Maria PalaiologouDramaturgy Consultant: Kitty PaitazoglouSet Designer-Costume Designer: Maria PanourgiaLighting-Photography: Sakis BirbilisMovement Supervision: Mariela NestoraCostume Making: Paraskevi ProtopappaSet Construction: Another Kind Of Art Production: Kart ProductionsInfoSecond Stage of the Kefallinias Street Theatre18 Kefallinias Street, KypseliInformation – bookings: 2114117878Performance dates and timesFrom 27 February, for 10 performancesMonday and Tuesday at 21.00Find out more here