Elena Mavridou conducts a workshop aimed at female actors. What is the role of women in comedy? How can characters emerge beyond the predefined roles assigned to them? Women have often had a supporting role in comedy. Paralyzed and helpless clowns, the characters in Beckett’s *Waiting for Godot*, provide fertile ground for exploration and a deeper understanding of comedy.
She was born in Drama and is a graduate of the National Theatre of Northern Greece (K.Th.V.E.). She also studied Theatre Studies at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She is a founding member of the theatre company Horos.
She has collaborated with the National Theatre of Greece, K.Th.V.E., the Onassis Stegi, the Hellenic Festival of Athens, among others.
Her theatre credits include: *Frogs*, *Antigone*, *Golfo 2.3 beta*, *Golfo Director’s Cut*, *Apokopos*, *Melted Butter*, *Recycle*, *Erofili Synopsis*, *The End*, *Greek Freak*, *Don Quixote*, *Woyzeck*, and more.
She has worked with directors such as Simos Kakalas, Michail Marmarinos, Katerina Evangelatou, Dominik Moll, Mustafa Avkiran, Sotiris Chatzakis, Viktoras Arditis, and others. She has also participated in festivals including Sibiu Festival (Romania), Tampere International Theatre Festival (Finland), Dialog Festival Wroclaw (Poland), International Street Artist Festival Szczecin (Poland), Heidelberger Stückemarkt (Germany), Blagoevgrad Festival (Bulgaria), and the Athens & Epidaurus Festival.
In film, she has appeared in feature and short films such as *Moni Sera Margaritarias* (Vasilis Kehagi, N-orasis, ET1, 2005), *Ultimate Substance* (London, Lisson Gallery, 2012), *Medea Melea* (Christos Karampelas, Cannes Festival Corner, 2014), *Ochthes* (Panos Karkanévatos, 2015), *Black Box* (Anthí Tsirouki, Cannes Festival Corner, 2018), *Rages* (Elina Fessa, 2017), *EDEN* (Dominik Moll, Lupa Film & Atlantique & Port au Prince – Arte, 2019), *Identity* (Panos Pappas and Despoina Charalambous, 2019), and others.
Awards include: Best Actress “Melina Mercouri” Award 2008, Best Actress “Karolos Koun” Award 2008, and Best Actress for the Greek short film *Rages* by Elina Fessa – Nyhtes Premieras 2017. In 2018, she served on the jury of the Drama Short Film Festival.
She has worked on adaptations and re-creations of plays for the stage, including *Melted Butter* by Sakis Serefas (dramaturgical adaptation based on the play, research material, novella, and pre-existing screenplay), *Recycle* (National Theatre), *The End* (Stegi – devised theatre creation), *Wuthering Heights* (Horos Theatre – literary adaptation for the stage, funded by the Ministry of Culture), and *Erofili* (Chortatsis – Athens Festival), among others.
She has directed *Waiting for Godot* by S. Beckett (2018), *The Wing* (2020), *Little Red Riding Hood and the Wild Leaves* (2020), and *Lambros* by D. Solomos (2021).
She teaches acting and improvisation at the Higher Drama School of the Municipality of Agia Varvara “Iakovos Kampanellis” and at the Higher Private School of Dramatic Arts “Technon Ekato” of Lakis Lazopoulos.
