Laert Vasili

Laert Vasili
[[File:Laert Vasili at Dance With Me.jpg]\|frameless\|upright=1]]
Born	Laert Vasili (1974-03-07) 7 March 1974 Delvinë, Albania
Other names	Laertis Vasiliou
Occupation	Actor/Director
Years active	1995–present

Laert Vasili (English: Laertis Vasiliou,^[1] Greek: Λαέρτης Βασιλείου,^[2] born 7 March 1974),^[3] is an Albanian Greek film and stage actor and director. He is bilingual, his father being of Albanian Christian Orthodox and his mother of Greek descent.

Background

Both his parents were officers in the Military of Albania. As a result, the family moved around a lot and he spent his childhood between Tirana, Saranda and Delvina, Albania. He started acting at the age of 16 while still in high school, playing leading parts in several school theatre performances. At the age of 19 he was accepted to the Academy of Arts in Tirana, Albania. In 1994 he left for Greece in order to study acting at the National Theatre of Greece Drama School in Athens, Greece. He came second out of 750 applicants and he was the first non-Greek citizen to be accepted in the school. He graduated in 1997.

Corpus Christi controversy

Laert Vasili directed a play Corpus Christi in Greece that depicts Jesus Christ and his apostles as a group of homosexual men. The 1997 play was written by American playwright Terrence McNally. The Greek Orthodox Church and the right-wing extremist Golden Dawn protested against the play. The director and actors of the play face charges of blasphemy in Greece.^[4] The play's director, Laertis Vasiliou, said that prosecutors were misdirecting scarce resources by pursuing his cast, rather than trying to nab tax evaders who have plunged Greece into ruin. "What I see is that there are people who have robbed the country blind, who are not in jail, and the prosecutor turns against art," Vasiliou told Reuters.^[4]

Awards

Nominations

Man of the Year 2012 by LIFO
Best Director Prize 2008 by Athinorama Magazine
Best Young Actor Prize 2002

Director

He has written and directed theatrical plays dealing with the sensitive theme of immigration and the notion of being a foreigner. He was the first to use Albanian artists living in Greece in professional performances, which moreover were multi-lingual. The plays were initially presented in Athens, Greece and run for more than 400 performances from 2003–2015, in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Kalamata, Kavala in Greece, Nicosia and Limassol in Cyprus, Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Veles in Macedonia, Gjilan in Kosovo and Korca, Durres and Tirana, in Albania.

Electra^[5] by Sophocles
Doruntine, by Ismail Kadare
Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally
The Emigrants by Sławomir Mrożek
One in Ten by Laert Vasili
Project Ilion-Work in Progress by Laert Vasili

Translator

He has translated several theatrical plays from English into Greek and into Albanian language and also from Greek into Albanian language.

Electra by Sophocles
The Persians by Aeschylus
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
The Emigrants by Sławomir Mrożek
Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally
The Lying Kind by Anthony Neilson

Filmography

The Chrysalis at the Internet Movie Database
Menge Kemishe at the Internet Movie Database
Paftuar at the Internet Movie Database
Agon at the Internet Movie Database
Out of touch at the Internet Movie Database
Balkan Bazaar at the Internet Movie Database
Red Sky at the Internet Movie Database
Charlie's Son at the Internet Movie Database
Hostage at the Internet Movie Database
Playing Parts at the Internet Movie Database
Alexandreia at the Internet Movie Database
Tomorrow Is Another Day at the Internet Movie Database
Annas Somer at the Internet Movie Database
Edge of Night at the Internet Movie Database
See You at the Internet Movie Database
Flegomeni Stella at the Internet Movie Database
Oikos antohis at the Internet Movie Database
Oi istories tou astynomou Beka at the Internet Movie Database
I agapi irthe apo makria at the Internet Movie Database
Gia tin Anna at the Internet Movie Database
Ta mystika tis Edem at the Internet Movie Database
Kato Partali at the Internet Movie Database
Three at TIFF
Αγνώστου Διαμονής at retroDB
Ω Γλυκύ μου Έαρ at retroDB
Στον Ήλιο του Αιγαίου at retroDB
Η λίμνη των στεναγμών at retroDB
Αίθουσα Αναμονής at retroDB
Σπάσε την Σιωπή at retroDB
Αγία τετράδα at retroDB
Ελληνοαλβανικό Συναξάρι at retroDB
Tingulli i Heshtjes

Theatre

He has collaborated with prestigious worldwide known directors such as: Robert Wilson, Dimiter Gotscheff, Teo Terzopoulos, Andrew Visnevski, Aleksandar Popovski and also with some of the most important directors in Greece like: Antonis Antypas, George Kimoulis, Dimitris Mavrikios, Yiannis Kakleas, Roula Pateraki, Maya Limperopoulou, Sylvia Liouliou etc. He was nominated for Dimitris Horn Prize (Best Young Actor 2001).

Electra (Orestes), by Sophocles at National Theatre of Greece
The Persians (Messenger), by Aeschylus at National Theatre of Greece
Prometheus Bound (Hephaestus), by Aeschylus at Attis Theatre
Antigone (Messenger), by Sophocles at Attis Theatre
Oedipus Tyrannus (Choryphe), by Sophocles at Athens Contemporary Theatre
Persephone (Homer), by Homer at Watermill Center
Electra (Orestes), by Sophocles at National Theatre of Albania
Tartuffe (Tartuffe), by Moliere at National Theatre of Albania
Macbeth (Macduff), by William Shakespeare at Contemporary Theatre of Athens
Volpone (Bonnario), by Ben Jonson at Contemporary Theatre of Athens
Diary of a Madman (Poprischin) by Nikolai Gogol at Theatre Alive
Diary of a Scoundrel (Korchaev), by Alexander Ostrovsky at National Theatre of Greece
The Lower Depths (Vaska Pepel), by Maxim Gorki at National Theatre of Greece
Pelican (Son), by August Strindberg at Bios Theatre
Curse of the Starving Class (Taylor), by Sam Shepard at National Theatre of Albania
Doruntine (Stres), by Ismail Kadare at National Theatre of Albania
The Fall of the House of Usher (Roderick), by Edgar Allan Poe at National Theatre of Albania
Gaslight (Gregory Anton), by Patrick Hamilton at Hitirio Theatre
Little Mahagonny (Paul Ackerman), by Bertolt Brecht at Attis Theatre
The Caretaker (Aston), by Harold Pinter at Aplo Theatre
Birthday Party (Stanley Weber), by Harold Pinter at Aplo Theatre
Hercules (Hercules) by Heiner Müller at Attis Theatre
Translations (Owen), by Brian Friel at Aplo Theatre
Stage Struck (Herman), by Simon Gray at Anesis Theatre
Corpus Christi (Judas), by Terrence McNally at Hitirio Theatre
The Trousers (Mandelstam), by Carl Sternheim at National Theatre of Albania
Nina (Gerard), by Andre Roussin at National Theatre of Albania
L'ospite (Leo), by Angelo Longoni at National Theatre of Albania
Angela (Lambros), by George Sevastikoglou at National Theatre of Greece
The Curtain Falls (Vratsanos), by Andreas Staikos at National Theatre of Greece
The Night of Secrets (Nikolas), by Akis Dimou at National Theatre of Greece
Falling from the stairs (John), by Charalambos Yiannou at National Theatre of Greece
New Friends (Oggie), by Elena Pega at National Theatre of Northern Greece
Some Explicit Polaroids (Viktor), by Mark Ravenhill at Neos Kosmos Theatre
Faust is dead (Pit), by Mark Ravenhill at Entropia Theatre

Blind Taste

He was the winner of the first season of the reality show Blind Taste presented by Vizion Plus TV in Tirana, Albania. He came first at the grand finale on July 4, 2015 leaving behind 32 candidates, among them very wellknown artists, politicians etc.

Dance With Me

He was part of the first season of the reality show Dance with Me presented by Klan TV in Tirana, Albania that was held between September 28 and December 29, 2014. The couple of the actor and the professional singer Zajmina Vasjari came 2nd at the finale of the competition (out of 6 couples) but they won the 1st place at the internet voting.

References

↑ "Laertis Vasiliou". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
↑ "Λαέρτης Βασιλείου". retroDB. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
↑ "Laert Vasili". Facebook. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
1 2 "Greece lays charges of blasphemy over gay Jesus play". cbc.ca. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
↑ "Elektra Laert Vasili Maqedoni Abc News" [Elektra Laert Vasili Macedonia Abc News] (in Albanian). YouTube. ABC News Albania. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.

External links

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