Cheap Smokes

Twenty-three summers ago, most of Greece fell for the film “Cheap Smokes”. It was a sensual tale of a one night fling between a young man and a young woman on a sweltering August evening in Athens.

The real love story was about Athens itself; the city's urban romanticism and nocturnal energy captured masterfully by director (and leading man) Renos Haralambidis. 

Now, this homage to the Greek capital and unfulfilled love has been respun into a musical by the Greek National Opera, to be performed on its Alternate Stage. 

The adaptation features original crew members such as Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos and Renos Haralambidis, and will be directed for the stage by acclaimed choreographer Konstantinos Rigos; with 18 new tunes added to the original soundtrack and all the sultry action condensed onto a “versatile hallucinogenic lounge”.

Adding a new depth to the original movie premise, an older and wiser Haralambidis will step into the narrator’s role this time, His schtick?  To perform flashbacks bridging the now and then of an Athenian flâneur torn between his past and present self. Alternately nostalgic and critical. We've all been there.