Premiere for the legal thriller "The Verdict"
on Friday, November 1st
at the "Theatron" of the «Hellenic Cosmos» Cultural Centre

The new major production of the Foundation of the Hellenic World and Thiasis Cultural Actions,
directed by Petros Zoulias with Grigoris Valtinos in the lead role

The «Hellenic Cosmos» Cultural Centre welcomes from November 1st the theatrical play "The Verdict" by Barry Reed, adapted for the stage by Margaret May Hobbs. The role of the fierce and uncompromising lawyer in a dark and complex case presented for the first time in Greece is portrayed by the exceptional Grigoris Valtinos. After the huge success of "DA" by Hugh Leonard, with Grigoris Valtinos in the leading role, Petros Zoulias directs a deeply social courtroom drama in an ambitious production by the Foundation of the Hellenic World and Thiasis Cultural Actions.

Starring: Zeta Douka, Giorgos Souxes, Nikos Arvanitis, Vasilis Halakatevakis, Kostas Kazakas, Dimitris Karampetsis, Georgia Kallergi, Anna Monogiou, Manolis Gerapetritis, Marianna Tountasaki, Giorgos Tsourounakis, Alexandra Kolaiti, Pantelis Psakidis.

In the role of the Mother, Christina Tsafou.

Grigoris Valtinos

A Few Words About the Play

The highly relevant issue of justice is the focus of the multilayered story of The Verdict. Frank Galvin, a washed-up alcoholic lawyer, takes on the task of bringing justice to his young client Deborah Kate, who falls into a coma due to a medical error at the Catholic Church's "Saint Catherine's" hospital in Boston. The defendants in the case are the hospital's top doctors, represented by the ruthless and powerful lawyer Ed Concannon. The search for truth and moral vindication for the victim encounters many obstacles and twists. Frank Galvin will confront the absurdity of the institutions and the hypocrisy of the powerful. Deborah Kate becomes the starting point for a new relationship with himself and the essence of his life. The story of The Verdict is nothing more than the clash between the corrupt system of power and the individual fighting with honesty and dignity for a more just and humane world.

The film "The Verdict" (1982) by Sidney Lumet, starring Paul Newman, was nominated for five Oscars and five Golden Globe awards, and the play has been adapted numerous times for the world stage, receiving positive reviews and comments from both audiences and critics.
 

Grigoris Valtinos, Zeta Douka

Christina Tsafou, Grigoris Valtinos

Director's Note by Petros Zoulias

The world-renowned legal thriller by Barry Reed, "The Verdict," with its powerful theme and unpredictable, fast-paced plot, holds the audience's interest from the first moment to the final outcome of the story. The main goal of the direction is to serve and highlight the rich and dense dramatic creation of the author.

The play moves in three axes. First, there is the legal-police element of a dark case that needs to be clarified, bringing events and people to light. The pursuit of justice and the restoration of truth is the primary concern of Frank Galvin, an honest but alcoholic lawyer in Boston. The play presents a series of obstacles placed in his way. A whole corrupt system of power and institutions seeks to crush him, forcing him to resign and compromise. The "powerful" do everything to silence him. To crush him in this uneven and fierce battle that Reed sets up as a wild duel, keeping us on the edge of our seats until the last minute.

The second axis of Reed's writing is purely social. In this trial, the "perpetrator" is a large part of our society. The accused are representatives of institutions and people in power. The confrontation is at the level of principles and values. On one side, we have the individual, weak but just, Frank Galvin, and on the other side, the power of high-ranking and corrupt figures. A clash of interest and immorality on one side and ethics and faith in justice on the other.

The play moves between these two poles and seeks from each of us a clear stance on the inhumane and illegal actions unfolding before us.

The case of The Verdict resembles many others that happen in our daily lives. Thus, the "medical error" that leaves a young mother paralyzed becomes the reason to highlight an entire system that "sickens" and a society that remains silent in the face of everyday injustice.

The third axis moves at a psychological level. The play’s hero is literally reborn from his ashes. A washed-up lawyer finds, through the case he takes on, the strength to stand on his own two feet. The trial gives him a purpose in life and existence. He moves from absence and resignation to assertion and the fight for a more just world. His ally in his sacred mission is his true friend Moe, as well as a charming and fateful woman who enters his life, Donna. Love becomes an aid in reconstructing Galvin's shattered world.

The audience, and the author ensures this, feels like a juror in a courtroom case that seeks their involvement from the beginning to the end of the performance.

Our aim is to maintain the cinematic style and pace of the narration. For this purpose, a series of many alternating sets and a strong, numerous cast were recruited to bring Reed's interesting, multi-faceted characters to life.

A trial always seems like a performance. Thus, the theatricality of a courtroom process is dominant. Theater within theater is the challenge of The Verdict with the audience as jurors who witness it. Because they will ultimately deliver justice.

Marianna Tountasaki, Georgia Kallergi, Grigoris Valtinos, Giorgos Tsourounakis

Pantelis Psakidis, Christina Tsafou, Grigoris Valtinos

Anna Monogiou, Grigoris Valtinos



Alexandra Kolaiti, Christina Tsafou, Grigoris Valtinos



Kostas Kazakas


Grigoris Valtinos, Vasilis Halakatevakis, Manolis Gerapetritis