Yannis Houvardas

Yannis Houvardas was born in 1950. A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he continued his studies in dramaturgy and direction at the Württemberg State Theater.

He co-founded the Theater Guild (“Theatriki Syntechnia” – 1977-80), for which he also directed and acted; the company toured numerous festivals in Greece and around the world. Between 1977 and 1990, he staged more than 30 works at national and state theaters in Greece and internationally, including: the National Theater of Greece, the National Theater of Northern Greece, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York, the Royal Dramatic Theater of Sweden, the National Theater of Norway, the Norwegian Theater in Oslo, and the Municipal Theater in Stockholm. In 1991, he founded the pioneering Notos Theater Company – a cultural institution dedicated to revisionist takes and international theater collaborations that played host to some of the most important theater artists in Greece.

In 1999, he began directing for both theater and opera beyond Greek borders once more, at such venues as: Burgtheater in Vienna, Residenztheater in Munich, Thalia Theater in Hamburg, Theater Neumarkt in Zurich, the Göteborg Opera, and the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. From 2007 until 2013, he served as Artistic Director of the National Theater of Greece, where he was credited with revitalizing the institution, and where he directed Shakespeare’s “Pericles”, and “Mourning Becomes Electra” by Eugene O’Neill, among other plays. Most recently, he directed “Death Variations” by Jon Fosse at the Poreia Theater, and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” for the Greek National Opera, presented at the Athens & Epidaurus Festival.