Yolanda Kaperda

Artistic director
Actress, director and theatre educator

Yolanda Kaperda graduated with honours from the Drama School of the National Theatre of Northern Greece (NTNG) and the School of English of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
She worked as an actress with the National Theatre of Northern Greece between 1994 and 1999, as well as with the Municipal and Regional Theatres (DIPETHE) of Ioannina, Veroia and Kozani.
She also participated in the theatres ‘Proskinio’ and ‘Athinon’ in Athens.

As an actress, she has collaborated with the following directors:
V. Papavasileiou, G. Rigas, Th. Gkonis, P. Papadopoulos, G. Bakolas, N. Kontouris, N. Chourmouziadis, V. Kontaxis, and others.
She took acting and improvisation classes for two years with Eleni Skoti at the ‘Epi Kolono’ theatre.

Moreover, she attended seminars instructed by:
Peter Brook, Kathryn Hunter, M. Marmarinos, K. Sfyrikidis, T. Bandis, G. Houvardas, N. Kontouri, A. Kazazou, N. Karathanos and others, as well as the ancient drama seminars of Delphi and the ‘Summer Oracle’ in Dodoni.
She took dance classes for ten years (classical, jazz, African, tango).
She participated in the play ‘Target’ (Stochos) directed by A. Tsiknia (sponsored by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports) and starred in the film ‘Three Seasons’ (Treis Epoches) by Maria Iliou.
She is a founding member and artistic director of the theatre company ‘Theatriki Sympaignia’.

She has directed and participated in the following plays: ‘Street of Dreams’ (Odos Oneiron) by Manos Hadjidakis, ‘The Royal Game’ (also known as Chess Story) by Stefan Zweig, ‘Silence’ (Siopi – combination of texts from Stefan Zweig’s ‘The Royal Game’ and Bertolt Brecht’s ‘The Jewish Wife’), ‘The Abduction of Proserpina’ (I Arpagi tis Persefonis – children’s play), ‘Antigone + Antigone’ by Sophocles and Jean Anouilh, ‘Feathered Princess’ (Poupoulenia Prigkipissa – children’s play), ‘Four Pictures of Love’ (Vier Bilder der Liebe) by Lukas Bärfuss, and ‘Cinderella’.

She has directed the following plays: ‘Molly Sweeney’, ‘The Big Tree’ (To Megalo Dentro), ‘I Want a Country’ (Thelo Mia Chora) (extracts), ‘Shakespeare Globe’, ‘The Backyard of Miracles’ (I Avli ton Thavmaton), ‘Waiting for Godot’ (extracts), ‘The Birds’ (Ornithes) (adaptation for teenagers), ‘The Birds’ (adaptation for children), ‘The Story of Victor and Mary’ (I Istoria tou Viktora kai tis Marias), ‘The Knight in Rusty Armor’ (O Ippotis me ti Skouriasmeni Panoplia), ‘The Open Couple’ (Leftero Zevgari) (participation in the 4th Panhellenic Amateur Theatre Festival of the Municipality of Monemvasia, 1st Award for best actress, Committee 2nd Award for best performance, Audience 2nd Award for best performance and honorary distinction for best actor), ‘Metropol 1938’ and others.
She organised and participated in presentations of literary works (poetry and prose) by writers from Epirus, such as G. Partheniou, A. Dereka, F. Tziovas, G. Skopouli, I. Kalpouzos and others, while she also participated in ‘Lyric Pamvotis’, one of the leading annual events organised by the Society of Litterateurs and Writers of Epirus.
She has also worked as an English teacher in secondary education.
Moreover, she taught improvisation and acting for adults and adolescents in public and private education institutes (Municipal and Regional Theatre of Ioannina, Public IEK [Vocational Education Institute] and IEK DELTA).
She collaborates as a Drama teacher with the Therapy Centre for Dependent Individuals (KETHEA Epirus). She has also collaborated with the Judicial Prisons of Stavraki in Ioannina, where she put on various plays.
In the framework of her collaboration with the Management Body of Lake Pamvotis, she staged various plays related to the environment.
As of 2019, she has been collaborating with the ‘Aristea Litou’ Professional Dance School in Ioannina, where she teaches the course of Theatrical Education to professional dancers.
She participated as an actress in the 1st and 2nd Interdisciplinary Symposiums of Ancient Dodoni on the ‘Connection of the Ancient Greek to the Psychoanalytic and Group-Analytical Thinking. Unconscious Group Dynamics in Antiquity and Today’, as well as in the 1st ‘Mana Mourgkana’ Culture Festival.

In 2016, she founded the theatre lab of ‘Theatriki Sympaignia’, where she teaches acting, improvisation, theatrical play and physical improvisation, she directs and participates in performances as an actress.
As of October 2021, Theatriki Sympaignia has its own theatrical stage in Ioannina (‘Stage 125’), which operates under the artistic direction of Yolanda Kaperda.