Nana Papadaki is a Greek actress, theatre and film director, poet, and writer whose artistic practice spans theatre, literature, poetry, and audiovisual creation. Her work moves across language, memory, myth, and contemporary identity.
Artistic Background
She is a graduate of the Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun, the Athens University of Economics and Business, the E. Chatzikou Film School, participated with her graduation film in the Munich International Film School Festival, and is a top graduate of the German School of Athens. She has been working as an actress since her first year of studies, following her selection by Giorgos Lazanis and her debut at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus.
Acting
As an actress, she has collaborated with major Greek theatrical institutions. At the Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun, she performed in Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, directed by Giorgos Lazanis; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, directed by Mimis Kougioumtzis; Woyzeck by Georg Büchner, directed by Giorgos Lazanis; and Big and Small by Botho Strauß, directed by Thodoris Grampsas. These early collaborations shaped an artistic practice rooted in strong performative presence.
At the National Theatre of Greece, she performed in Euripides’ Medea, directed by Stathis Livathinos, presented at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival and touring in Greece and abroad, including North Macedonia and the United States. At the National Theatre of Northern Greece, she participated in productions of Marivaux, Sarah Kane, Alfred Jarry, Racine, and Euripides under the artistic direction of Nikaiti Kontouri and the direction of Giannis Paraskevopoulos, Nikos Sakalidis, and Ektoras Lygizos at the Royal Theatre Backstage, engaging in a more experimental and research-driven theatrical practice.
Her acting trajectory also includes collaborations with leading Greek theatres, including Theatre Dimitris Horn and Theatre Badminton, and directors such as Stamatis Fasoulis, Dimos Avdeliodis, Ioli Andreadi, Marlene Kaminsky, and Chryssa Kapsouli, among others, working with a plurality of methods. Her long-term collaboration with Mirka Yemendzakis deepened her understanding of voice and breath. She worked with her in theatres, festivals, the Ancient Drama Conference, and archaeological sites such as the Telesterion of Eleusis, the Ancient Agora / Stoa of Attalos, and the Prison of Socrates / Philopappou Hill, in productions such as the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Alexandros Papadiamantis’ Thalassinoi Erotes, and Euripides’ Trojan Women, later curating a tribute dedicated to her work.
Her collaboration with Roula Pateraki, one of the most influential figures of contemporary Greek theatre, opened a space where female artistic lineage and radical performative language converge. With Pateraki, she worked on Peloponnesian War by Thucydides at the Small Epidaurus Theatre as part of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, under the title War Manifesto, Dying as a Country by Dimitris Dimitriadis at the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus, and Niki, Tonight at the Party, a monologue performance directed and adapted by Pateraki and dedicated to Niki Triantafyllidi’s artistic legacy.
Directing
Her directorial practice moves between theatre, philosophy, literature, and interdisciplinary creation. She directed and performed in Plato’s Ion, presented at the main programme of the Aisxylia Festival under the title Plato’s Ion – A Small Symposium; directed Christa Wolf’s Cassandra in its original German language; and directed and performed Beneath the Shadow of the Mountain by Yannis Ritsos, presented in Athens, Eleusis, Brussels (following an invitation by the Hellenic Circle – Cultural Association in Brussels), and Lima as part of the Peru Biennial 2026. In 2026, she also directed and performed Tennessee Williams’ The Two-Character Play, presented in Greece under the auspices of the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy – USA.
Her co-direction of the poetry film Primordial, based on her poetry collection of the same name, has received several international awards and has been presented at festivals in Greece and internationally, including Brazil, Mexico, Russia, France, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Serbia, the United Kingdom, India, and the United States.
Poetry & Writing
She is the author of four poetry collections. Primordial (Melani Publications, 2023) was longlisted for the 2023 Hartis Poetry Awards, while Encore – Women of Odyssey (2016) revisits female figures of the Homeric epic. Her poems have been published in print and digital journals and translated into English, German, and Spanish.
Founder & Artistic Director Maldoror
This sustained metamorphosis of her artistic practice culminated in the creation of Maldoror, the independent non-profit company she founded and directs, through which she develops theatre productions, film works, and interdisciplinary projects with an international orientation. Among its recent productions, Timandra by Theodor Kallifatides was staged for the first time in Greece under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Swedish Institute at Athens, in collaboration with Galaxia Gutenberg (Spain), and Tennessee Williams’ The Two-Character Play, presented in Athens and touring in Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, and Thessaloniki under the auspices of the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy – USA.
Selected Recognition
- Founder and Artistic Director of Maldoror, an independent non-profit artistic company based in Greece, developing theatre, film, poetry, and interdisciplinary projects with an international orientation.
- Co-director and writer of the award-winning poetry film Primordial (2024), recipient of multiple international awards and official selections at film festivals across Europe, North and South America, and Asia.
- Primordial (poetry collection, Melani Publications, 2023) — longlisted for the Hartis Poetry Awards.
- Timandra by Theodor Kallifatides (2024) — first presented in Greece under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Swedish Institute at Athens, in collaboration with Galaxia Gutenberg (Spain).
- Beneath the Shadow of the Mountain by Yannis Ritsos — presented internationally, including Brussels through an invitation by the Hellenic Circle – Cultural Association in Brussels and participation in the Peru Biennial (Lima).
- The Two-Character Play by Tennessee Williams (2026) — presented in Greece under the auspices of the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy – USA.
Her work continues to evolve through a plurality of practices, theatrical languages, methods, and interdisciplinary encounters, while exploring the body as a living artistic field.
MORE LINKS ABOUT NANA PAPADAKI
