Mami Digital Program

Presented by
NYU Skirball and Under the Radar Festival

Conceived and Directed by
Mario Banushi

With
Vasiliki Driva / Katerina Kristo, Dimitris Lagos / Nontas Damopoulos, Eftychia Stefanou / Ilia Koukouzeli, Angeliki Stellatou, Fotis Stratigos and Panagiota Yiagli

Set & Costume Design
Sotiris Melanos

Original Music & Sound Design
Jeph Vanger

Lighting Design and Associate Dramaturg
Stephanos Droussiotis

Artistic Collaborators
Aimilios Arapoglou, Thanasis Deligiannis

Assistant Director
Theodora Patiti

International Relations & Tour Management
Nikos Mavrakis

Production Management
Rena Andreadaki & Christos Christopoulos, TooFarEast

Line Production
Ioanna Papakosta, TooFarEast

Auditions & Residency Coordinator
Konstantina Douka Gkosi, TooFarEast

Tour Lighting Design
Marietta Pavlaki

Tour Sound Engineer
Kostas Chaidos

Set Assistant
Sofia Theodorou

Costumes Assistant
Nikoleta Anastasiadou

Set Construction
Michalis Lagkouvardos

Special Constructions
Alahouzos Brothers, Alexandros Loggos

Special Lighting Constructions
Giorgos Ierapetritis

Rehearsal Technical Coordination
Aristidis Kreatsoulas, TooFarEast

Rehearsal Electrician
Konstantinos Mavrantzas

Rehearsal Technical Support
Stefanos Ntaoulas, Iason Papantoniou, Grigoris Zkeris, Paris Asimakopoulos

In collaboration with OMAZ civic non-profit company

Commissioned and Produced by Onassis Stegi

Co-produced by Berliner Festspiele [DE], Odéon — Théâtre de l’Europe [FR], FOG festival / Triennale Milano Teatro [IT], & Espoo Theatre [FI], Festival d’Avignon [FR], Grec Festival Barcelona [ES], Théâtre de Liège [BE], Noorderzon Festival / Grand Theatre Groningen [NL]

Special Thanks Aliki Atsalaki, Sozon Bessis / Bessis Textiles, Marissa Bili, Eleni Choumou, Panos Delinikopoulos, Giorgos Koutlis, Katerina Kristo, Eirini Kyriakou, Katerina Liatsou, Julian Mommert, Dimitris Papaioannou, Petros Papazisis, Giorgos Sofikitis, Theodoros Terzopoulos, Pinelopi Tsoutsouva, Elena Viseri, Chryssi Vidalaki, Mark Yeoman & Raydun Bolk and the team of Grand Theatre Groningen, all the participants of the audition workshops.

Initial research & development were made possible with the support of the Onassis AiR Dramaturgy Fellowship [GR] and the Centre Culturel Hellénique — Paris [FR].

Supported by the Onassis Stegi Touring Program.

MARIO BANUSHI

Mario Banushi was born in 1998 and lived in Albania until the age of six, when he moved permanently to Greece. He studied acting at the Drama School of the Athens Conservatory, graduating in 2020. That same year, he created his first short film, Pranvera, which was selected for the 2021 Tirana International Film Festival. His directorial debut in theatre was Ragada, a performance developed and presented in a private home in Athens during the pandemic lockdowns. In 2023, Banushi premiered his second work, Goodbye, Lindita, at the Experimental Stage of the National Theatre of Greece. The production quickly garnered critical acclaim and a devoted audience, leading to sold-out performances and invitations from prestigious international festivals and theatres, including the International Theatre Amsterdam, the Adelaide Festival in Australia, and BITEF in Belgrade. At BITEF, Banushi received both the Special Award “Jovan Ćirilov” and the Politika Award for Best Director. His third work, Taverna Miresia – Mario Bella Anastasia, premiered in July 2023 at the Athens Epidaurus Festival, where it played to sold-out audiences. It has been touring internationally since early 2024. These three works are often referred to collectively as Romance Familiare — a term meaning “family romance” in Albanian. Banushi’s most recent work, MAMI, premiered in February 2025 at Onassis Stegi.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

When I was about a year old, my mother had to leave me with my grandmother in Albania and go away. Until I was thirteen, I called my grandmother “mami.” When my mother took me with her to Athens, I grew up in the apartment above the bakery where she worked, with the smell of freshly baked bread. I grew up around many women. I grew up around young women and old women. I grew up with more than one mother. This show is for them: a wish, a prayer to the weight the word “mom” carries for both the one who hears it and the one who says it. Who takes care of whom — I never understood this complicated relationship. And I never will. But I’m trying to unravel it like an umbilical cord, like the viscera that connects life to its roots. — Mario Banushi

NYU SKIRBALL FUNDING

NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; Culture Ireland; The Shubert Foundation; Collins Building Services; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Goethe Institut New York with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; Harkness Foundation for Dance; and Marta Heflin Foundation; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Allies for Arts Access Fund support.

NEXT @ NYU SKIRBALL

Narcissister: Voyage Into Infinity
January 16–18
Masked provocateur and performance icon Narcissister transforms the stage into a kinetic world of surreal magic, feminist play, and explosive theatrical invention. With a live score by Holland Andrews, Voyage Into Infinity channels lo-fi spectacle and punk energy in equal measure, unfolding as a kaleidoscopic meditation on gender, race, and desire. Drawing inspiration from Fischli and Weiss’s The Way Things Go, Narcissister reclaims and recharges their chain-reaction world through her own radical lens, one where humor and critique meet spectacle and subversion. Presented with the Under the Radar Festival.

Daniel Fish: Kramer/Fauci
February 11-21 • World Premiere
Internationally acclaimed director Daniel Fish (Oklahoma!, White Noise) revisits a pivotal moment of the AIDS crisis: the 1993 televised clash between Dr. Anthony Fauci and playwright-activist Larry Kramer. Charged with rage, urgency, and unexpected intimacy, their encounter marked a turning point in the fight for care and recognition. In this world premiere, Fish stages the exchange as both history and provocation. With Tony Award-winner Will Brill and Thomas Jay Ryan.

ABOUT UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL

For over two decades, the Under the Radar Festival has brought bold, risk taking work to New York City, celebrating groundbreaking theater and performance from around the world and just down the street. Produced in collaboration with dozens of venues at a selection of historic and emerging theaters across New York City, the festival showcases innovative multidisciplinary artists whose work speaks powerfully to the present moment. Under the Radar’s influence sets a cultural standard that resonates through the artistic landscape far further and beyond our January schedule. In coordination with Festival founder and Co-Creative Director Mark Russell, producers Thomas O. Kriegsmann and Sami Pyne of ArKtype, and with the addition of this year’s highly-esteemed Co-Creative Directors Meropi Peponides and Kaneza Schaal, UTR is positioned to continue to capitalize on the Festival’s rich history and expand on a tradition of trailblazing new direction. For more information visit utrfest.org