Vassilis Oikonomou

The first Greek actor with disability who studied in a Greek School of Drama. After a renowned course as an actor and director, he founded "THE.AM.A." - Theatre of People with Disabilities in 2010, the only professional Greek theatre composed mainly by actors and actresses with physical disabilities (such as Panos Zournatzidis, Marina Besiri, Christina Toumba, Giorgos Iliakis and himself) as well as by Thespians with no disabilities (such as Michalis Tamboukas and Efi Toumba). In September 2013, he represented "THE.AM.A." at the International Festival "Pro-Teatr" in Moscow, where he conducted the acting masterclass "Space and Time in Ancient Greek Tragedy", and in the Scientific Conference on the subject "Sociality-Creating Function of Art and Problems of Sociocultural Rehabilitation", which followed in October, he was guest of honor - speaker with his lecture on the reconstruction of teaching for Thespians with disabilities, entitled: "Opsis: The interpretation of the term from antiquity to contemporary theatrical reality". In 2014, "THE.AM.A." staged in Athens Edward Albee's first one-act play "The Zoo Story", with Michalis Tamboukas as Jerry. The park bench (where Peter meets Jerry) was theatrically 'transcribed' in the wheelchair used by Panos Zournatzidis, the excellent actor who played Peter, and the production was noted as a critically acclaimed performance, brilliantly directed by Vasilis Oikonomou. After the performances in Athens, the production continued on tour in other cities of Greece with a fine cast which also included Christina Toumba, Giorgos Iliakis, Maria Mourelatou, Efi Toumba, Aimiliani Avraam, Marina Besiri and himself in roles of persons that come from Jerry's narration, and in their way of existing in his state of being, they get life on stage, some of them in animal figures. The documentary "THE.AM.A.", directed by Eliana Perifanou and Maria Sidiropoulou, was filmed mainly during the rehearsals and the performance of "The Zoo Story", depicting the work of this exquisite theatre group. On the occasion of World Theatre Day (WTD) March 27, the documentary was broadcast that day in 2015 by the Greek TV network of Public Television.