Evdokimos Tsolakidis, Greece
He was born in Thessaloniki in 1962.
He studied at the Medical School of the University of Rome.
He was awarded his BFA degree of the Drama School of the National Theatre of Northern Greece with honours.
He continued his studies in drama, acting and directing in New York City (H.B. Studio) funded by the U.S.A. Government (Fulbright Foundation). While in NYC he attended classes as an auditor at the Actors Studio.
In 2013 he graduated from the Greek Open University BA (Humanitarian Studies, European Culture).
In 2016 he got his Master degree from the Open University of Cyprus MA (Theatre Studies: Acting-Directing).
He has worked as an actor in many troupes, including the State Theatre of Northern Greece, the National Theatre of Greece, the Spyros Evangelatos Auditorium, the Regional Theatre of Crete and Thrace, the troupes Karezi-Kazakos, Aliki Vougiouklaki, George Kimoulis, Xenia Kalogeropoulou e.tc. He took part in film and television productions and directed plays in Greece and abroad.
He is the founder and the Artistic Director of Theatre of Changes (http://www.toc.gr, founded in 1998) where he directs plays and teaches to this day.
He has taught in Rome (International Acting School, Cinecitta) and in London (Giles Foreman Acting Studio) as well as in Stockholm (Kulturama), in Istanbul ( Müjdat Gezen Art Academy, SAKM), in Tbilisi (Marjansvilli Theatre), in New York City (Theaterlab), in Paris (Ecole de Théatre de Paris, TRIXTER), in Amsterdam (Easylaughs group), in Kathmandu (Dabali Theater), in Izmir (Tiyatro Terminal), in Bethlehem (Al-Harah Theatre), in Zurich (Prova.ZH) as well as in different parts of Greece.
He has participated at International Theatre Festivals (Romania, Iran, Switzerland and Morocco) and has taught at the Theatre Department of the Universities of Alexandria in Egypt, Tehran in Iran, Ciudad del Carmen in Mexico.
During summer 2016 he stayed in Santa Barbara California teaching at the local university (UCSB) and directing Euripides’ “Helen” together with his other two shows “Tonight we Improvise” and “Walking and Falling”. The Independent wrote “Thanks to UCSB and to Tsolakidis for washing our hair of the stereotypical staging too often assumed to be the only way to bring Ancient Greek tragedy to life”. http://www.independent.com/news/2016/aug/09/helen-ucsb/
He was chairman of the jury at the International Theatre Festival in Agadir (Morocco 2007).
Every year since 2005, he organizes ''In.Fo.Ma.T.''(International Festival of Making Theatre), an international meeting of theatre makers from around the world.
He has published the following books: “Acting without teacher” by KOAN editions, “Improvisation in Theater” by EXANDAS editions and the plays ''Athens - Moscow'' and ''Nothing'' by Dodoni editions.
''Athens - Moscow'' has been translated into Iranian by Sakineh Arabnejad, and published by Afraz editions (http://www.afrazbook.com) and was staged in Tehran, directed by Katayun Feiz-Marandi. Both plays have been staged in many university theatre departments and theaters worldwide (to mention a few: “Athens-Moscow” has been staged in Zurich, directed by Anna Tsihli, in Bucharest directed by Adriana Zaharia, “Nothing” has been translated in Turkish by Kemal Basar, has been published along with the magazine “Yeni Tiyatro” in March 2010 and has been staged in Istanbul in 2012 and in Izmir in 2013).
He speaks English, Italian and French.
He has travelled to almost all the length and breadth of the planet and in the summer of 2008, he made the round of the world in a month, leaving to the east and returning from the west!
Vakhtangov: Between Stanislavski and Meyerhold.
This workshop is designed to offer students a dynamic, engaging introduction to theater training through the method of three major legends of contemporary theatre: Stanislavski, Meyerhold and Vakhtangov. Students will get acquainted with techniques for improving their skills on focus and concentration, connecting with others through active listening, understanding “stage presence,” and opening their imaginations to playing characters. They will deal with previous circumstances, intentions, objectives, obstacles and conflicts.
Students should wear loose clothes and bring a monologue of their own choice.