Α TOUR IN PERAMA OR THE STORY OF MY TOWN
(by Vagelis Marinis)
Dec 2010
(Two girls come from the back cross the corridor and stand in front of the spectators.They have books in their hands. On the right back of the stage an old lady neats , sitting on an old chair. A dim light is on her)
MARIA: Good evening (Maria is a young girl about 17 years old. She comes from a rather well off family and she seems rather casual and happy)
LUDMILA: Hello ! (Ludmila,is a young girl of the same age. She seems rather serious and gloomy.)
M: My name is Maria and I am 17 years old
L: My name is Ludmila . I am 16
M: I attend the Lyceum . C’ class theoretical direction
L: I am a student of the first class. I want to be a doctor
M: My parents were born here , in Perama. I grew up here, too
L: Mine , came here from Odessa. I was 10 years old then. My grandparents lived there for long. Many Greeks had been living there in the past. They left because of the war. M: The old say that in Perama were all shacks . They made them of wood and plates. To avoid passing the rainwater, they dresseed them with tar and cardboard. I do not know what this material is. Listen tar and cardboard!. We, however, we live in a block of flats
L: Here in Perama, we do not have friends or relatives. My family all work and sometimes they phone some friends who came from Odessa too. I feel that something is hurting them. Quite often they look at some photos. Their homes in Odessa. Some old, large houses .Mansions with gardens and terraces.They do not discuss with me about them. But I will one day ask them. I want to know. I understand that something hurts them There is a bitterness in their eyes. I do not know whether I will stay or I will go from here. In the background of my mind there is a nostalgia and an escape
M: Perama starts from the supermarket Sklavenitis. Democracy avenue starts here. It is the only road linking Perama with Piraeus. They built another one abovethe oil tanks but no one makes use of that. I do not understand why we make something we can not use. My father, however, says they spent a lot of money to build this road. My grandmother says that others got this money. L: Our house is above the oil tanks. These are huge oil and gasoline tanks. Our neighbors say, that these tanks had taken fire. I hope nothing like that will happen again.
M: Just beyond the turn of the road there is a statue. It is the statue of a fighter of the 2nd world war.It is under some trees. Nobody's watching him. He must feel very lonely. There are many such people in Perama. They are old now. They fought against the Germans in 1940 and they are in disrepute now.
L: Just beyond is the house of an old man. His name is Emmanuel. When he heard that I come from Odessa he came to me and spoke in Russian.He looks very smart and sophisticated. He seems benign too , but he is not. One day we had a talk about the city and the houses. He told me that he lives in a boat, and that sometimes he sleeps on public benches. Did not believe him. M: I nearly believed him. When I asked if that was true , he replied that he didn’t know too. He said that truth and tale are tangled in his mind
L: Wherever you go, you'll find him. He is restless, although he says he is 96 years old. And if not so, I am sure he is over 80
M: So , a stop at Louis’ house. That’s how his friends call him. His house is beyond the rails . There were rails there in the past. A train coming from Piraeus going to the navy. There was a cross of the rails somewhere there. Now there are baskets and children play. L: So, we went Emmanuel’s house. He welcomed us. He offered us traditional sweets. He has got a lot of humor although he is very old
M: He said he knew my grandmother . She was very beautiful and had made her a proposal
L: He started telling us stories about the town. His way of telling the stories moved me . I don’t know why , but I felt like it was the story of my family
M: I can still hear his voice telling the story. Was that all he said true or a tale made up in his mind?
(In the distance sledgehammers are heard breaking down a house.
A mid aged lady appears , dim-light on the couple of elderly ladies, Vavo and her Daughter. Turns off lights from Mary and Ludmilla)
D: Mam! Mam! Slip down under the couch.
V: What? The wild beasts came back ?
D: Yes mam. They tear down Thalia’s shack and afterwards they will come here.
V: It was yesterday they pulled down the roof.. Our shack doesn’t have a roof now . What have we to done them. Haven’t they got houses ? Haven’t they got families? How do they behave? What do they think? They swore to be policemen not Vezuvii
D: Mam, if you swear to be a crucifier, you swear for everything. Your forth does not stop at no evil, as long as you do it against the poor and defenseless. That’s how you stand like a policeman, otherwise you leave or do not go at all for this job. ... But stop talking now and get under the couch, not to be hit if they pull down the shack
V: No! I’ll stay here . I’ll stay here to prevent you from going out there to quarrel and get you to the court again blamed for resistance against the authorities. And this time they will sentence you more than three months, because supposedly it has recured and they will hit you. That sons of a bitch. ! No! I’ll stay here ! I’ll sit here in front of the door. And the door open like a challenge! The only thing I ask you is to be cold blood. Yes cold blood . Only remember your father who stood in front of the Germans like the Olympian Gods! Onle remember this my child and do not interfere at all! Even this difficulty will pass !
(Vavo and her daughter remain stationary, sit on stools )
M: And they spent nights and nights as this one , with the same anguish, and another.
Where and how to find a piece plate and a nail to mend, to mend this nest, the nest of your family, the nest of your soul, to get in to have a bed to lie on, to rest your tire and your anger. And you don’t mind if wind, cold and rain comes in from everywhere .You loved this shack because you had built it with much heartbeat , with suffering . It was your temple and your icon corner. What if you sat on a can . For you it was a throne! What if you were looking for a wages from the dawn, now you had spread your wings. Now we were sure! There will be no knocking on your door at the first day of the month by your landlord for the rent.
Now you fly! You had something yours! And in every election campaign you gathered pledges from prospective rescuers that you would save your shack. And you always added plate and tar and cardboard to make it a castle.
L: And when you finally took a concession for this passport for your cottage you had already paid for twice, once to the ecclesiastical property, the tax priests in cassocks , and another formally to the welfare state - all states are formal.
You learned this from your first steps in this country! The other one , your birthplace has been taken by the pimps.
They are Greeks, and even Christians! And that’s something in front of last night’s nothing, the unsuspected nothing!
M: Come on, make your cross!And until you make your cross and say thanks to god, you are thrown out your hut by the Pickpocket
Organisation of Piraeus under the sentence of the formal state . You should never forget this! All states are formal!
..For setting up the major port. And above all please do not put up with the language itself! She does not want scented soap!
L: MrsThalia pulled it out of the fire with a broken leg by those wild beasts that evening or the next, I do not remember well. Hope she pulls it out of the fire from the monsters called bankers .Thats something you do not believe as I do as she got a loan with a pied rate (floating rate). (sound of sledgehammer in the background)
K: Oh , poor Thaleia ! as my mother used to call you, why didn’t you put it on fire by its all sides , and you let those fire bugs those arsonists enter the door! Tomorrow they will fly out! Where can you go trickling? We can not host you again! The contract doesn’t allow us . You see , we were forced to sign another paper from your own with the condition not to make a hosting. In the conditions and the rules , the State is official and unofficial!
V: What to do? to resort to professional saviors of our country! From the saviors who would save us?
D: Damn them all, that either John or George or Kostas they are all called! and save each other! This is solidarity, and not ours, poor Thalia !
V: Limping you , limping me , that is how life will be in Perama and elsewhere
D: I know that young handsome bastard! There is something I learned from your mother. Even if the interest rates get my house, even though homeless I stay, even if on the benches I leave my last breath, dreams would have got revenge!
V: My name will survive in the 8 floor block of flats , as Thalia’s block , along with Apostolo’s filthy shop and the bordello of Nota , the phantom of the town-hall , as we say the Minoan Palace ,the tomb of Clytaemnestra . the tower of Placentia …..
D: If that’s how you think Mrs Thalia then … it’s ok…
(lights off Vavo and her daughter)
M: These and the same blossom in our country like the palmy blithely orange tree
L: The air in the bus I take every morning to go to school, is sultry.All children waiting at the bus stop get on it. Once the windows are closed it smells bad. Some should not be washed
M: And as far as the language they use…Forget it… Sometimes people are offended especialy the elderly. They are not wrong.
L: One day I decided to go on foot . On the sidewalk I found 20 euros. You do not know how happy I was . 20 euros… a lot of money for me
M: Here is the Heroes’ Square . We do our parades here at every national celebration . I’m bored of these parades
L: On October 28 I was by the flag . First we went to church and then for the deposition of wreaths. Me and two other students tabled the crown of our school. I felt somewhat differently. At the time of depositing the wreath the mobile of my classmate hit. It was the sound of Olympiakos. All around burst out laughing. I was ashamed.
M: You forgot the bitter orange war. It's fun, but our teachers argue
L: This is Peace Avenue. It usually stinks. On elections and parades you always find it clean. Here , one day , I broke my leg. The sidewalk was damaged, I tripped, the heel broke and I broke my leg
M: The sidewalks are very narrow and full of obstacles. When you walk you should be careful , because they are full of dog dirt
One day I stepped on , slipped and soiled my clothes. An old lady saw me and helped me. She lead me at her house and cleaned me. Since then Mrs Hermione, that’s her name , is waiting every morning to greet me
L: Just above is the public park . There used to have ducks there. When I was a little girl , I remember my grandmother used to take me there and then we feed the ducks. It was fun. In the beginning I was afraid of the ducks , not to bite me. Sometimes there was a smell of incense ,there. At first, my grandmother made the cross. She believed that somebody was praying. But my grandfather said it wasn’t incense. And my grandmother stopped crossing herself.
M: At the other side of the park they say that some bad things are done , like drugs and so on.
L: We arrived our school . 1st Lyceum of Perama. It is at the west end of the town. Next to it ,you will see the port with the boats going to Salamis.
M: The bell rings at 8:15 . Many students are late , the teachers grumble and the headmaster is always strict on that
L: Oh this microphone, which sometimes sounds and sometimes not. It's fun. And the morning pray. Come to find volunteers each morning to say the pray.
M: We do different things at our school. Other children work for the magazine, others have a band and other work for the website of the school.
L: I love our school. As I like this city , too. Because it is simple. Because we are it’s story and nothing else
M: And simply just like that, we will introduce you our theatre team and our work "Every Persian and better"
L: Besides, the only historical event that took place in our place was the battle of Salamis against the Persians , of course
