Christos Thessalonikefs was born in Thessaloniki in 1967. He studied music, acting at the Drama School of the National Theatre of Northern Greece, and playwriting through a series of seminars organised by the Greek Playwrights’ Society. He has also appeared as an actor in various theatre productions.

His plays and theatrical works include At the Same Café (1996) and Where Does the Day Go When It Leaves? (1997), directed by Giannis Nikolaou; A Picture on the Back (1998), directed by Anna Sotrini; Egri Bikaver (1999); adaptations of Evita (2000) and Cats (2001), the latter including a verse adaptation, both directed by Thessalonikefs himself; and an adaptation of Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen (2001), directed by Gerasimos Destounis.

His play Until a Day Ago was staged in 2018–2019, directed by Giannis Stamatiou, and was also published by Korontzis Publications.

His other theatrical works include Requiem for Immortality, Life Is a Zeibekiko, The Women of Sunday, The Shop Window, The Smile of the Strawberry, Aeolian Land, Then and Always – Inspired by the Work of Ilias Venezis, The Woman with the Colours, and the libretto for the contemporary opera Opera Rehearsal: Karyotakis–Polydouri.

He has written the novels The Myth of Love, I Thought of You Last Night, I Wanted to Call You but It Was Too Late, Mutatis Mutandis, The 25th Hour – Beautiful Stories and Good Failure, as well as short stories. His short story They Know What They Have to Do was included in the anthology 11 Words, published by Kalentis Publications. His Proteus’ Dream appeared in the Greek-English anthology Red Thread: Contemporary Myths and Tales from Athens to Essex, published in the United Kingdom. His novel Mutatis Mutandis was published by Korontzis Publications.

He has also written song lyrics for theatre and television productions, including In the Time of Wolves, Logo Timis, The Kiss and the Slap, Vendetta and East of the New Land.

AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

He received the Greek State Playwriting Award from the Ministry of Culture for Until a Day Ago. He was also awarded a prose prize by the Parnassos Literary Society for Life Is a Zeibekiko, and a prize from the online literary magazine Logotechnis for his short story They Know What They Have to Do.

His plays have been staged in a number of theatres. He is a full member of the Hellenic Centre of the International Theatre Institute.

PLAYS

I Walked a Long Way Before I Came Home, 2017
The Woman with the Colours, 2015
Aeolian Land, Then and Always – Inspired by the Work of Ilias Venezis, 2014
The Shop Window, 2002
Assemblywomen – Adaptation and Choral Verses, 2001
Cats – Adaptation, 2001
Requiem for Immortality, 2000
Evita – Adaptation, 2000
The Women of Sunday, 2000
Egri Bikaver, 1998
Opera Rehearsal, 1997
Where Does the Day Go When It Leaves?, 1997
A Picture on the Back, 1996
At the Same Café, 1996
Life Is a Zeibekiko, 1994
The Smile of the Strawberry, 1993
Until a Day Ago, 1992