In the June-August #64 issue of Ready 2Board, the official magazine of Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos", Tatiana Ligari talks to journalist Iris Sinigalia in a short but interesting discussion about Athens and the Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf. Read the conversation below:
Jules Verne, the famous author, had dreamt of the most amazing inventions of the 20th century. In his 1872 novel Around the World in 80 Days, a "traintheatre" appears. In 1997, exactly 125 years later, Tatiana Ligari realized the world’s first and only such train at Rouf, an Athens neighbourhood.
How did you come to the idea for the Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf?
It was 1996, and I was looking for a venue to stage a Polish play where I would perform the female role. The play was set during a train journey, and I just thought that it would be most interesting to use a real train carriage as its stage. Thus the first site-specific theatre performance was born, something rather avant-garde for its day, and for today too.
How has the idea evolved through the years?
The Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf is unique in the world, the only cultural complex inside a train. We promote art and culture through all sorts of artistic activities, both for adults and children: theatre, music, modern dance, visual arts, and literature. Besides, we also help budding artists. Our space has become, in these 27 years, a rare industrial monument of modern Greek history and culture. Comprising of nine vintage train wagons, it includes a real railway jewel, that is a wagon-restaurant of the legendary Orient Express, plus a Breda locomotive of great historical value. Our winter performances are given in our cozy wagons, and the summer ones in our cool open-air cultural platform, the Apovathra. We even combine art with gastronomy, at our fully equipped Wagon-Restaurant and our Wagon-Bar.
Is there something that the Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf still lacks?
A personal dream, and we have already started working on this plan, is to create a showroom where material from the rich artistic career of the Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf will be exhibited. We will also show interesting archival material from our work of converting our rusty and unusable train carriages into cultural foyers. Plus, artwork and sculptures by important Greek creators will be exhibited at the outdoor Apovathra. My personal wish is that to Treno sto Rouf becomes a must-see industrial monument, and gets recognised as a unique cultural venue on the tourist map of Athens.
So the Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf is for you, in a way, a Wagon of Thespis?
Just like Thespis, the ancient poet who first displayed his art by reciting his theatrical pieces on a cart-wagon, to Treno sto Rouf symbolically became a vehicle for me, to convey my deep belief in Art’s power to influence and shape a mature and balanced social whole. Originally I had plans for a career in law, but decided to abandon them in order to become an actor, and then created the Treno sto Rouf and continued as a director. My wish has always been to aesthetically entertain the public with quality productions, and with respect to humanity.
Tell us, please, about your Athens.
I was born and studied in Thessaloniki, whose memory remains deeply rooted in me, with all its tastes and flavours, its sea and its warm human contact. But my dreams and aspirations could become a reality only in Athens, where they continue to be built. This capital city, with all its chaos and its difficult daily life, magically combines West and East, hides beautiful surprises and unexpected secret corners, hosts the Parthenon but at the same time develops a remarkable and varied contemporary art scene, and has found its own way to merge diverse cultures with moderation and balance. When I walk round the historic centre, or take the tram to the waterfront, I always think that I would love to be a tourist in this city. I would discover beauties that its own people forget to see, and generally I would have a great time in Athens.
https://www.digital.2board.gr/blue-issue-june-august-2024
