Two one-act plays by Susan Glaspell will be presented in English for the first time in Cyprus and Greece, with Nicosia performances coming up at the end of October. Adapted for a staged reading, the performances will be in English with Greek subtitles, inviting audiences to explore Glaspell’s feminist writings.

Trifles and The People will be presented at the Flea Theatre in Nicosia on October 24, 25 and 27, with live-streaming of the performance on October 25, which will be followed by a Zoom discussion with members of The International Susan Glaspell Society. Brought to life by a six-piece cast, the plays will be performed by Chrissie Andreou Maroulli, Christos Grozos, Stavros Hachatryan, Christina Marouchou and Stavros Patsia.

Glaspell (1876-1948), one of the pioneers of the American feminist movement and one of the most important literary and theatrical figures of the 20th century, was a playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. She first became known for one of the one-act plays to be presented (Trifles), which is perhaps the most frequently performed one-act play in America, while her play, Alison’s House, won her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

In Trifles, John Wright is found strangled in his sleep. His wife, Minnie, is held in jail as the person responsible. The play begins the next day, when the County attorney, the Sheriff and his wife, and a neighbouring farmer and his wife arrive at the empty house. While the men go to the bedroom and barn to look for evidence that Minnie murdered her husband, the women are left alone in the kitchen and begin finding revelations about the couple’s life.

In The People, the staff of a publishing house of the same name wait for their publisher to return from a trip to California, where he has gone in an attempt to secure funding for the magazine. The fate of the magazine depends on whether the publisher manages to return with the money or not.

Trifles | The People

Two one-act plays by Susan Glaspell. A staged reading produced by |(w)in the margins|. October 24, 25, 27. Flea Theatre, Nicosia. 8pm. In English, with subtitles in Greek. €15. Tel: 97-638710