00:03Thessaloniki in northern Greece.
00:06At the Amalia Theatre, preparations are underway for the revival of the play 96%,
00:12written by dramaturg, actor and director Prodromos Zinikoris, born in Wuppertal, Germany.
00:20I wanted to study film, to be a film director.
00:22For my parents' sake, I told myself I would do theatre instead of film.
00:26I figured it was almost exactly the same thing.
00:30I started going to university every day from 9am to 9pm.
00:34I went on to get a degree in acting.
00:36Then I started acting in theatre, and this was the first theatre I performed in.
00:44He's maintained contact with Aristotle University in Thessaloniki,
00:48Greece's top breeding ground for theatrical talent.
00:51He sometimes returns to speak to students there.
00:55He and his former acting teacher, Viktor Arditis, share a deep friendship and mutual admiration.
01:04One of Prodromos' great strengths comes from being bilingual.
01:08I would even go a step further and say he possesses a double authenticity.
01:12When I first met him, he was a very shy child who spoke almost no Greek.
01:16He didn't say much, but he was always very polite.
01:21I mention this because today, Prodromos speaks some of the most beautiful Greek I have ever heard.
01:27And he does it with real vitality and eloquence.
01:33In 2023, during a residency at the Gota Institute, Prodromos developed 96%.
01:41The play deals with the murder of nearly 50,000 Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators.
01:4796% of Thessaloniki's Jewish population.
01:52Actor Alexandra Razzupulo Saia has Jewish roots herself.
01:57For her, working on this piece of docu-theatre has been deeply moving.
02:04Prodromos is one reason why you can learn to love theatre again.
02:08He's influenced everyone who sees our play.
02:10And I hope that as we walk through this city, we'll reflect more deeply on certain things.
02:16It's an interesting production and something I've never seen before,
02:19either as a performer or an audience member.
02:23I'm grateful to be a part of it.
02:29Prodromos' twin sister Stavroula also lives in Thessaloniki.
02:35The director's heritage is important to him, and he brings it to the stage.
02:40He's included things like his personal photo archive, featured in 2013's Telemachos, Should I Stay or Should I Go?
02:48The play explores the Eurozone financial crisis from the perspective of Greek migrant workers.
03:01It's very touching because there are moments when you see our grandmother and grandfather
03:06videos and photos of our parents, what they wished for, what they wanted.
03:11Family is very important to Prodromos, which is really beautiful.
03:16I think it's very touching.
03:18You don't forget your roots or how you got started, but you also see that things can get better.
03:26Prodromos divides his time between Germany, Greece and Belgium, where his young daughter lives.
03:32But for over 15 years, his life has centered on Athens, where he also teaches at the directing school of
03:39the National Theatre.
03:40His students are able to actively help shape his documentary theatre projects.
03:48I ran out of material during one class and didn't feel like re-watching old performances.
03:53So I said, join in. You'll learn more if we research the project together.
03:57This way of working is totally normal for us.
04:00But it's not standard practice for a national theatre.
04:03They want to know who's in the cast, what's the theme, what's the play, and we're like, yeah, no idea.
04:12His most important creative partner is dramaturg and director Anestis Assas.
04:19The two met in college and later apprenticed at Berlin's Maxim Gorky Theatre and with the theatre ensemble Rimini Protocol.
04:27Since 2013, they've been staging their own projects.
04:32He looks very closely at the texts and the details.
04:36He might be the best dramaturg I know.
04:38I don't mean the kind of dramaturg who works at a state theatre,
04:42but somebody who finds ways to develop a text, dramatic structure or narrative.
04:46We're always trying to distill things and Prodromos is particularly good at that.
04:54Plus, he has an incredible ability to connect with people, to talk to them and communicate with them.
05:05In 2016 came Clean City, a study of the precarious living conditions of Athens' cleaning personnel.
05:16Matthias Lilienthal brought the play to the Kammerspiele in Munich.
05:20The artistic director of the Volksbühne Berlin has long been a fan of Prodromos' work.
05:24To me, Prodromos is someone who embodies cultural exchange and a European identity in a very fascinating way.
05:32He manages to articulate the fundamental sense of defiance felt by oppressed people in society,
05:38to powerfully express their position.
05:43If there were more people like Prodromos, there'd be no fascists in either Germany or Greece.
05:52Ormonia Square, the lifeblood of Athens.
05:56Prodromos is here to talk to Eleni Strulia, his set designer, about his latest project.
06:01Strulia plays a major role in shaping the visual language of his plays.
06:11I really trust Prodromos. I'm not afraid of making mistakes because I know he's there.
06:17All of us in the team share this bond of trust. And trust has a magical quality.
06:26It enhances and multiplies our abilities. Because when you're in a safe environment, there's no fear holding you back.
06:41From Omonia, he heads to the Acropolis. It's Independence Day and he's here to continue a tradition.
06:49To meet up with his closest friends over Cod and Ouzo.
06:52This year, there's more than enough to celebrate. Prodromos is a winner of the 2026 Goethe Medal, Yamas.
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