Biography

Stratis Karras (1934-1992). Stratis Karras was born in the village of Trigona on Lesvos, the son of George Karras and Irene nee Aivalikli. His father was a marble sculptor. His parents divorced a few months after his birth, so Karras grew up with his mother. He spent his early childhood in his hometown. Due to his illness from tonsillitis and the need for hospitalization, he lived from 1944 in Mytilini, where he finished elementary school and enrolled in high school. In 1953 he settled in Athens where he finished high school. He studied at the Film School of Lykourgos Stavrakos (1955-1956) and the Drama School of Pelos Katselis, where after graduation he taught acting until Katselis' death in 1981. In 1970 he left for Dallas, where he taught acting to graduate students at the University of Trinity, at the invitation of the director of the Dallas Theater Center. There he met the actress and dramatist Nellie Diaks, whom he married in 1972 and with whom he had two children, Strati-Aggelos and Irini. From 1976 to 1977 he collaborated with Manos Katrakis at the Mikro Hellenic Folk Theater and taught at the theater group of the University of Athens. In 1977 he was appointed professor at the Drama School of the National Theater and in 1980 director of the Drama School of K.TH.BE. He was also a member of the Board of Directors. and then (1987) General Manager of Hellenic Radio, while in 1989 he launched a long-range radio station in Mytilini. In 1981 he created the Motion Theater Workshop, later the Deaf Theater of Greece, in collaboration with his wife. In 1990 he founded the Theater Education School, with the support of the Society of Greek Playwrights (of which he had been elected president the previous year), the Ministry of Culture and the European Community Fund. He died at his home in Dionysos, Attica from a myocardial infarction. The authorship of Stratis Karras is placed in the area of the post-war Greek theater. A restless spirit from a young age, he wrote his first play, entitled The Apollonian, at the age of fifteen. It followed, ten years later Tomorrow we will change neighborhoods. He became known, however, mainly for the plays The Night Watchmen (2nd State Theater Award in 1967, Frank Nik Award in 1970) performed by the National Theater, Dallas Theater Center and the Ankara State Theater, The Wrestlers, which was awarded a State Prize and were first presented in 1969 by the Paxinos troupe