The Slender Girl, the first novella by one of the most important representatives of modern Greek literature, Andreas Karkavitsas, comes to the Experimental Stage for Emerging Artists on 24 October in a production directed by Irene Lamprinopoulou. It is a poetic work about trauma and the enduring oppression of women, but also an ode to female autonomy, and the right to love, acceptance, and forgiveness.

The Slender Girl follows the burgeoning romance of Anthi Strimmenou, the daughter of a grocer, and Georgios Vranas, a young carriage owner. Her father, though, is opposed to the match and has other ideas; wishing to ensure his own prosperity and the security of his shop, he resolves to marry off Anthi to his devious employee, Nikolos. Georgios suggests running away together so that she can avoid the fate that awaits her, but she refuses and marries Nikolos. “No, Anthi is no longer the daydreaming sweetheart of Georgios Vranas, she’s now the pragmatic wife of Nikolos Pikopoulos.”

And while she has to resign herself to the choice that others have made for her, Vranas finds solace with someone new. Married life changes Anthi, as she goes from being a young woman in love to a wife and mother. It is the arrival of a baby that transforms the relationship with her husband and leads her to devote herself fully to her new role.

The end of Karkavitsas’s story can be read either as an endorsement of compromise or a lament for acquiescence. Exploring the boundaries between the two, the production aims, through a collage of memories, to reframe the life of a woman whose destiny has always been circumscribed by the gaze of society. The play examines Anthi’s unacknowledged desires and fears, her doubts about her choices, and her opportunities for self-determination, leading us to question how and by whom a person’s future is decided.

About Andreas Karkavitsas and The Slender Girl
The Slender Girl was written in 1896 by Andreas Karkavitsas (1865-1922) and is his first novella. One of the most important representatives of folk realism, and the chief exponent of naturalism in modern Greek literature, Karkavitsas wrote in every genre, although never for the theatre. His most famous works are the novel The Beggar and the collection of short stories Words from the Prow.

The Slender Girl is set in Karkavitsas’s own birthplace, the small village of Lechaina in the prefecture of Ileia. The Greek title of The Slender Girl ('Lygeri') is a term frequently found in folk songs and legends. The author uses it to describe his heroine, Anthi, who was inspired by the object of his own frustrated yearnings, Iolanthe Vasileiadi. Her parents were opposed to their relationship and decided that she should marry someone else. She submitted to their will and Karkavitsas never loved again.

In The Slender Girl, Karkavitsas gives us an intimate portrait of the rural Greece of his time, capturing it vividly through lively dialogue and detailed descriptions, and conveying the ideas and beliefs of small communities and the habits and customs of the region. With a lyrical quality that has its roots in folk tradition, the author highlights the conflict between the personal desires of the individual, and social imperatives, roles and behaviours; especially as regards a young woman and the issue of marriage.