October 24th, 2025
OFF SYLLABUS: Reloaded
Experience the beauty of Greek theatre in Toronto — now accessible to all with English hypertitles for non-Greek speaking audiences.
A Few Words…
The social drama Off Syllabus (Ektos Ylis) by award-winning playwright Kostas Leimonis, starring Gerasimos Skiadaresis and directed by Konstantina Nikolaidi, premiered during the 2016–2017 theatre season at Alkmini Theatre in Athens. In December 2017, it was performed at Amalia Theatre in Thessaloniki, and on March 27, 2018, marking World Theatre Day, the play was presented in the Hellenic Parliament, in front of the Speaker of the House, Members of Parliament, and parliamentary staff.
That same evening, it was performed on the main stage of Ilisia Theatre in Athens, and again in November 2018, following popular demand. The play then went on a nationwide tour across Greece. In 2019, it was presented to Greek expatriates in Brussels and Stuttgart.
In November 2024, the production returned with a series of sold-out performances in Thessaloniki at Avlaia Theatre, where it ran for two months. It continued with great success in Athens at the Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation, also for two months and as of March 2025, it embarks on a new nationwide tour, with one sold-out performance after another.
Due to high demand, the production returns to Thessaloniki for twelve additional performances at Avlaia Theatre at the end of March and May.
To date, excerpts from the performance have garnered millions of views on social media and YouTube, while the reviews have been unanimously enthusiastic, particularly praising the play and Gerasimos Skiadaresis’ powerful performance, often described as a “landmark role” in his decades-long, highly successful career.
The play explores timeless phenomena of the corruption of power, which occur globally, and reflects on how people have forgotten solidarity, even toward their own families — as well as the very meaning of human dignity and humanism itself.
It is no coincidence that one of the play’s most memorable lines has spread by word of mouth:
“The problem begins the moment the value of the suit exceeds the value of the person wearing it.”
The play has been honoured with an award by the Panhellenic Union of Writers.
Guest Performers
«Off Syllabus» A political monologue by award-winning playwright Kostas Leimonis
In this daring and emotionally charged political monologue, a seasoned Member of the Greek Parliament — a former minister with long-standing service in various administrations — makes the irrevocable decision to resign from office and withdraw permanently from the country’s political sphere.
On the night of the government’s vote of confidence, he prepares to deliver his final address — a speech unlike any ever heard in the Parliament. Not a declaration of loyalty, but a confession. Not rhetoric, but reckoning.
Haunted by the weight of his actions — and, more significantly, his failures — both as a public figure and a man, he stands before the people who once entrusted him with hope. In an unguarded moment of self-awareness, he confesses, apologizes, and dares to speak the truth.
Even at the eleventh hour, he strives to become an ally of honesty and a bearer of an apology that should have been uttered long ago.
Off Syllabus is a powerful reflection on conscience, accountability and the possibility of redemption in a political world that rarely allows space for either.
Credits
Playwright: Kostas Leimonis
Translation: Maria S. Blana
Director: Konstantina Nikolaidi
Music: Giorgos Perou
Production Team
Executive Producer: M.Michalitsianou
Production Manager: Gina Skagos
Stage Manager: C. Anastasopoulos
Lights & Sound: A. Kontaratos
Props: P. Kantzios
A Production of Empiria Events: Tickets sold by www.empiria.events
The play performance in Toronto is part of the programming for:
