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The Whore from Ohio
T
he late Israeli playwright, Hanoch Levin’s
masterpiece
The Whore from Ohio
– per-
formed for the first time in Greek and directed by
Panagiotis Larkou – was presented by the Limas-
sol Theatre Development Company (ETHAL),
and shown in the THOC and ETHAL theatres
in Nicosia and Limassol respectively, over the
course of January.
ETHAL was founded in 1988, after years of ef-
forts by the Municipality of Limassol’s Cultural
Committee to create a professional theatre in the
town. Even though it was eventually founded as a
private organisation, it has since been supported
by the Municipality.
And now ETHAL has provided Cypriot theatre
lovers with the world-renowned dark comedy,
The Whore from Ohio
.
Hanoch Levin was an elite dramatist, referred to
as the Brecht of Israeli theatre, and considered to
be the reformer of contemporary dramaturgy in
the neighbour country. This specific play has been
hailed as one of his best.
The Whore from Ohio
speaks of sex, money, God,
love, dreams, national honour, social insurance,
with each scenario based on lies.
It tells the story of a street whore, Brontsatski,
who is waiting for a rich tourist to sweep her off
her feet, marry her and buy her a swimming pool,
and she is convinced there is actually a possibility
of this happening.
In parallel performance is the story of a tramp,
Hoibitter, who decides to celebrate his 70
th
birth-
day by visiting the street whore and giving her all
his savings.
Then comes the story of his son, Hoimer, who is
chasing after his father because he loves him.
The title refers to Hoibitter’s ultimate fantasy; a
high-class prostitute who works in a mansion-size
brothel in Ohio. He heard about such a place long
ago and has held a firm grip on his imagination
ever since. He is a man consumed by fantasies, of
both the title character (whom he never encoun-
For the first time in Greek