Brecht’s ‘O spiounos’ comes to a Lefkada school stage
“Within the four walls of my home, I will say what I want.”
Bertolt Brecht, The Informer, p.418. Othisis English rendering of Angela Verykokaki’s Greek translation.
A schoolteacher’s fear that his son might denounce him drives O spiounos, the Brecht one-act play chosen by the theatre group of Lefkada’s 1st Gymnasium. The pupils will present it in the school amphitheatre on Sunday, 25 October 2026, at 19:00.
The school’s own invitation, published on 21 October, invites the public to the performance. The education authority lists the school at Palies Alykes, in Lefkada Town. The invitation does not state an admission charge or booking requirement.
Cologne, 1935: a child leaves the room
The scene belongs to Brecht’s Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, identified on the school’s poster by its Greek title, Tromos kai athliotita tou Tritou Raich. In the text printed in Greece’s official literature textbook, the scene is set in Cologne in 1935, on a rainy Sunday afternoon after lunch. A husband and wife argue about acquaintances, newspapers and what can safely be said at home.
When they realise their son has gone out, they try to reconstruct what he heard. Because he belongs to the Hitler Youth, his parents fear he will report their conversation. The father starts recasting his earlier remarks as explanations the authorities might accept. The threat works through what the parents imagine their child could repeat.
Before the boy returns, the schoolteacher father, convinced that his son has gone to report him, pins on his Iron Cross with trembling hands.
The school’s poster identifies the Brecht scene and incorporates a black-and-white portrait photograph in profile; it is not a photograph of the pupils’ performance. Original: 1st Gymnasium of Lefkada; designer not identified.
Further Reading
References
- 1st Gymnasium of Lefkada, original invitation and poster, 21 October 2026.
- Directorate of Secondary Education of Lefkada, school directory entry.
- ITYE Diophantus, Keimena Neoellinikis Logotechnias, vol.III, pp.416–425, Brecht text in Angela Verykokaki’s translation.
- Suhrkamp, Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches: publisher’s synopsis.
