Foreigners and Locals (Melina Merkouri Hall)

Ombudswoman Iliana Nicolaou and the New Theatre Group are putting on a play to combat discrimination against migrants.

The play, which was written by Andreas Koukkidis and directed by Fotos Fotiadis received financial assistance for its production by the European Union.

Titled “Allodapoi je Topakes” or ‘Foreigners and Locals’ in English, the play is written and performed in the Greek Cypriot dialect.

It centres on a young Ukrainian woman named Tatiana who arrives in Cyprus to work as a housekeeper and earn enough money to support her ailing parents back home.

Tatiana is different from other migrants to Cyprus, the play tells theatre-goers, because as a teacher of ancient Greek in Ukraine, she communicates to other Cypriots in ancient Greek, and they to her in the Cypriot dialect. The play intends to demonstrate in a light-hearted fashion the types of day-to-day difficulties migrants encounter in Cyprus.