The National Theater has announced that the remaining performances of the Balance of Nash have been cancelled, due to the controversy caused by the playwright’s inclusion of excerpts from a book authored by convicted 17 November member Savvas Xiros.
According to the statement issued by the National Theater, the decision was taken due to the political controversy that was sparked. The statement argued that “it received hard and absolutely dogmatic criticism from people who, largely, have not seen it”.
Earlier, the art director of the National Theater Stathis Livathinos told Vima 99.5 FM that “the play not only does not praise terrorism, in fact it is a condemnation of violence; it is not in Xiros’ defense”.
Furthermore the National Theater underlines that the play does not champion the taking of lives and aimed to raise concern and reflection. Instead, the play generated extremist reactions, to the point where the artists, employees and audience members were threatened with violence.
The Greek Directors Guild (EES) issued a statement condemning the development and stressing that “art must be approached with aesthetic criteria and a clear mind”, adding that it will defend the freedom of expression.
