Alexandra Sideris’ passion for architectural design began at just five years old.
“I used to go to building sites with my father, who was a roof carpenter, which piqued my interest from a young age,” she tells The West.
“As a child of Greek migrants, it was an unusual choice back then but I was very lucky to have parents who were very supportive of my decision.”
She earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from Curtin University and got straight to work.
“While I was at university I would work at architects’ offices during summer, so I was lucky enough to have a foot in the door and I could go directly into my field,” she said.
Beginning her Broadway Homes journey three-and-a-half years ago as a senior designer and head of the design department, Ms. Sideris supervised and supported other design staff at the company.
“With my background in architecture, I was brought to the team to ensure continued growth and innovation in our designs, and to create an experience that would continue to exceed client expectations,” Ms. Sideris said.
As a senior designer, Ms. Sideris takes the individual needs of each client and converts their dreams and visions into a functional reality.
“It still excites me to come in each day to produce something from nothing but an idea and get to watch it come to life,” she said.
“I design all of our clients’ individual custom homes, from initial briefs and meetings with clients, through to planning approval and everything else in between.
“I am involved in creating concepts for new display homes, which is an exciting way to incorporate new styles and trends into our designs.
“As a team, we work with the client’s overall budget and goals to produce quality-built homes and place a lot of emphasis on the overall client experience to make it the most personalised and enjoyable journey possible.”
Sydney Olympic FC has today confirmed that its goalkeeper, Nicholas Sorras, has joined Perth Glory’s Isuzu Ute A-League squad on a short-term injury replacement contract.
Sorras could play for Glory in Sunday’s A-League Men clash with Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
Sydney Olympic’s CEO, John Boulous, wished Sorras all the best.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Nick and a great reward for his effort and performance,” Mr Boulous said.
“As a Club we sign players to not only contribute to the success of the Club on the field, but also provide a football environment and pathway for them to reach their potential and progress.
“We wish Nick the very best for his stint with Perth Glory.”
An Australian of Greek Cypriot heritage Anthony Nicola is the Resident Director of South Australia’s State Theatre Company or as his colleagues call him the Resident ‘Enfant Terrible’ due to his outstanding artistic achievements at the young age of 22.
We chat with Anthony as he reminisces about his love for storytelling from a young age, talks about the people who have influenced his career and provides some details on his collaboration with Elena Carapetis for the play ‘Antigone’.
-Anthony give us a brief background of yourself and when did you first realise your penchant for theatre?
When I was a young boy, I loved telling stories. I had a very traditional Greek-Orthodox upbringing and I would often escape into the world of the imagination. I would put on little plays with my cousins at Yiayia’s house for my family, and it all just came naturally to me.
I knew it was what I wanted to do for ages, so straight out of high-school I auditioned for the Flinders Drama Centre, and there I trained as a director for four years before landing my job at the State Theatre Company of South Australia.
What I learned in my time there was that it wasn’t telling stories that I loved at all. What I actually loved was whatever happened between the storyteller and the listener. It is this magical unexplainable communion.
Theatre became my religion. The way that theatre can touch people’s lives and help them understand the world and how to live in it still amazes me. I really believe that every theatrical experience has the potential to create true and lasting social change.
Performers Kidaan Zelleke and Kathryn Adams with playwright Elena Carapetis.
-Are there particular people who have mentored or influenced your career?
So many! But primarily Tom Healey, former Head of Directing at Flinders Drama Centre, who took me under his wing and taught me everything I know. He’s a wonderful human being and a genius theatre maker. We have become great friends.
And similarly, former Resident Artist at State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA) Elena Carapetis has also been hugely influential to me. At first, we gravitated towards each other because of our cultural bond, but very quickly we realised that we speak the same language when it comes to theatre making. She inspires me every day.
Also, the current Artistic Director of STCSA Mitchell Butel has greatly influenced my career, as he has believed in me from day one and given me my first main stage show.
-The last two years have been tough for the entertainment and the performing arts sectors. As we transit from crisis to recovery what can we do as a community to protect and grow the country’s theatre culture?
We just need to support each other’s work and see as much theatre as possible.
Life is short, so while we can we need to dive headfirst into every single theatrical experience that we can get our hands on.
Thrilled that my play #Antigone is part of the @StateTheatreSA 2022 program. The first in western #theatre to say no to a king was a girl. This is her story and the story of all Antigones who followed. Spectacular Girls. I’ll show you what a girl can do. pic.twitter.com/W9D7RZiFCq
— Elena Carapetis Ελένα Καραπέτη (@ElenaCaraSays) October 19, 2021
-What are the lessons you’ve learned during this pandemic period?
I’ve learned that the connections we have with people are all that matters. When everything else falls away, all we have are the people that we love to lean on.
– The company’s upcoming season presents an eclectic and exciting variety of shows. What would you like patrons to know?
This season is one of my absolute favourites that the company has ever done! As you say, it’s an incredible mix of shows and extremely diverse. There is something in there for everyone. We have true stories, reimagined classics and gripping one-man shows.
Anthony Nicola working with playwright Elena Carapetis in rehearsals for the The Gods of Strangers. Photo Credit: Sia Duff
-Next year you will be directing Elena Carapetis’ ‘Antigone’. Why should one watch this play and how do you think it will resonate with contemporary audiences?
Antigone is one of the great stories of all time. It explores fundamental questions about the conflict between civil and religious law and common humanity.
The story is simple: Antigone, a young girl, chooses to defy the laws imposed by the king, her uncle Creon. It is this central conflict that Elena Carapetis’ new play explores – a young girl rises up against a powerful man.
Elena uses this classic story to explore the endurance of patriarchy in our world, and how Antigone’s spirit lives on in modern women like Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai and Emma Gonzalez – just to name a few.
But even deeper than his, I think Elena’s play wants to conjure the spirit of Antigone in all of us.
It is a firecracker of a play that wants us all to leave the theatre shouting from the rooftops for the ones we love and for what we believe in. This is a show for all those who have ever felt like an outsider, and how we find the strength to speak our truth.
– What would you say to someone who may be unfamiliar with Antigone to get them to come see the show?
You don’t need to know anything about Antigone to enjoy this show.
We begin in Ancient Greece with the original characters before hurtling 2 thousand years into the future to modern-day Australia and all around the globe. We show different versions of the Antigone story today – different young women speaking truth to power.
Four actors – one man and three women – play dozens of different characters in a collection of scenes that will make your head spin. It’s a wild rollercoaster ride that you won’t want to miss!
*Antigone will be held at the Odean Theatre at 57a Queen Street in Norwood, SA from 27 May – 11 June 2022. To find out more visithttps://statetheatrecompany.com.au
The Greek community of Sydney will watch with great interest the Annual General Meeting of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW (GOCNSW), to be held on Sunday, December 5 at 2 pm. Two matters of interest will dominate the meeting: (a) the construction of the coveted, and much discussed, Greek Cultural Centre, and (b) the rumours about the sale of the Greek Orthodox Community Home for the Aged in Earlwood.
Cultural Centre:
In this historical General Meeting, detailed information will be provided on the “Cultural Centre” – an impressive three-storey building that promises to cover all the cultural and social needs of Hellenism with multipurpose rooms, such as a theatre, restaurant, offices, conference rooms, library etc.
The construction of the Cultural Centre, which is expected to be completed in five years, is estimated to cost more than $20 million and it is certain that State and Federal grants will be requested, as well as funds from the Greek government. The financial contribution from organisations and associations of our community is also expected.
Greek Orthodox Community Home for the Aged:
While the plans for the construction of the Cultural Centre are a dominant topic in the discussions of our community, the rumours about the possible sale of the Greek nursing home in Earlwood took everyone by surprise.
The Greek Herald received numerous phone calls from members of the Greek community who expressed their concern about the possibility of the nursing home being sold. At this stage, we must emphasise, that it has been categorically denied by the President of GOCNSW, Mr Haris Danalis, and committee members of the Greek Orthodox community.
It should be noted that in the financial year 2020-2021 the Greek nursing home of the community showed profits of $163,131 compared to $455,755 in the previous financial year. This reduction is of course due to the restrictive measures for COVID-19. In the same period, community childcare centres increased their profits from $145,233 to $313,717.
Many, however, justifiably argue that if the nursing home had shown an annual profit even in the difficult period of the pandemic, why talk of its sale?
A Roman villa containing a rare mosaic that depicts scenes from Homer’s Iliad has been found in the UK.
The mosaic was discovered beneath a farmer’s field in Rutland and is being investigated by archeologists.
“My family have been farming this land for 50 or 60 years,” Jim Irvine, son of landowner Brian Naylor, told the BBC.
“During lockdown last year, I noticed some pottery on the ground which didn’t look like any pottery I’d seen before.”
“We came down here with a spade and I dug a shallow trench and I was in exactly the right place.”
“To see something that has been undisturbed for 1700 years or so has been amazing.
“The thing that has been keeping me interested is what’s the state of the next thing to come out of the site because it’s all been amazing so far.”
Rutland Villa Project (Historic England Archive)
Historic England described the mosaic as “one of the most remarkable and significant… ever found in Britain”.
The mosaic features Achilles and his battle with Hector at the conclusion of the Trojan War.
They have funded urgent excavation work at the site by the University of Leicester (UoL).
“This is certainly the most exciting Roman mosaic discovery in the UK in the last century,” said John Thomas, project manager on the evacuations.
“It gives us fresh perspectives on the attitudes of people at the time, their links to classical literature, and it also tells us an enormous amount about the individual who commissioned this piece.
“This is someone with a knowledge of the classics, who had the money to commission a piece of such detail, and it’s the very first depiction of these stories that we’ve ever found in Britain.”
Rutland Villa Project. A team from ULAS/University of Leicester during the excavations of a mosaic pavement. (Steven Baker/Historic England Archive)
Investigations have revealed the large villa is surrounded by barns, circular structures, and possibly a bathhouse.
The complex is likely to have been occupied by someone with a knowledge of classical literature, between the 3rd and 4th Century AD.
The site is on private land and not accessible to the public but discussions are ongoing with Rutland County Council to set up an off-site display of the villa complex and its finds, Historic England said.
Further excavations are planned on the site in 2022.
Mr. Irvine said the field will no longer be used for farming so the area can be protected.
Greece has become the first European country to target an age group with a vaccination mandate.
Residents over the age of 60 who fail to book their first jab will face a monthly fine of about $150 Australian dollars.
Yanis Varoufakis has called the move a “draconian measure” and said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is “on confession of complete failure.”
“I had the Prime Minister in front of me in Parliament (two months ago) and… I said, ‘Imagine that you were to introduce a $200 fine every month for the unvaccinated… what effect is this going to have?,” the Greek MP tells ABC Breakfast.
“Yes, some people are going to be vaccinated but you are going to divide the nation and make the anti-vaxxers, those who are skeptical of vaccines… a feeling within them that they are being martyred for being concerned.”
“What does he do yesterday? He announces that which I asked him exactly not to do.”
There are about half a million people over the age of 60 in Greece who are yet to get vaccinated.
Around 63 percent of Greece’s population of 11 million are fully vaccinated.
“I can understand the necessity of getting the over-60s, the pensioners, vaccinated because they are the most vulnerable. It’s just that it doesn’t work,” he said.
“I am a firm supporter of the vaccination drive,” he said, “but you are not going to win this fight if you martyr those who are concerned instead of presenting them with the facts.”
Varoufakis says there is a correlation between mistrust in government and low vaccination rates.
“People don’t believe our government anymore and that is detrimental to the vaccination drive,” he said.
Greece has detected its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Crete in a citizen who returned from South Africa last month.
The man, who has mild symptoms, and those he has had contact with, have been quarantined, National Organisation for Public Health (EODY) head Theoklis Zaoutis said.
His contacts have tested negative so far, Zaoutis added.
More countries are reporting cases of the variant, which the World Health Organisation says carries a very high global risk of surging cases.
Greece’s vaccination committee has given the green light for children aged five to 11 to be given the COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Thanos Plevris said.
Plevris said bookings for this group will open once supply is available.
Greece has also announced a move to make vaccination mandatory for people aged 60 and over.
Walking into Perama 2.0 restaurant in Petersham, Sydney, I’m instantly struck by the amazing transformation the space has undergone since my last visit pre-lockdown in July.
To my right is a trendy bar containing dozens of iconic Greek wines, while on my left are mirrored walls covered with the outlines of Greek gods and rows of dining tables waiting to be filled with customers when the restaurant opened for service.
Taking a few more steps into the space and if you’re lucky, you’ll also bump into Michelle – the friendly staffer who answers the constantly ringing phone and manages the bookings and events.
The large bar at Perama 2.0. All photos: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
Interior of Perama 2.0.
She was more than happy to share what it’s been like ever since chef, David Tsirekas, decided to bring back the iconic Perama restaurant as Perama 2.0 after 10 years.
“It’s been an overwhelming response. It’s unbelievable how many people are excited that the restaurant is back and that David is back at the helm of the restaurant,” Michelle tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
Speaking of David, I set off on a walk through the restaurant to find him and of course, he’s exactly where you’d expect him to be – rushing around in his industrial kitchen.
David in the kitchen of his restaurant. Photo: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
He’s all alone and prepping his signature quirky dishes, such as kalitsounia and passionfruit bougatsa, in anticipation for the Wednesday night dinner rush. Only minutes later, I see him grabbing a bucket and mop as he starts to clean the restaurant as well.
When I ask him why he seems to be both a chef and a cleaner, his answer doesn’t surprise me as it reflects the current issues facing the hospitality industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent lockdowns in New South Wales.
“There’s no staff around. The people who are here [in Australia] don’t want to do this job anymore because of the constant lockdowns and hospitality has always been the one to cop it first,” David tells The Greek Herald.
David does the cleaning and cooking. Photos: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
“Then you’ve got the added thing of the desperation for staff and people offering big bucks [which is hard to compete with].”
The popular chef does acknowledge however, that it’s “not all doom and gloom.”
“The staff are doing an amazing job, let me tell you. I couldn’t be prouder of these young kids and their enthusiasm and their filotimo. They’re giving their humility in service which is good,” David says.
“One of the positives of having these young guys is being able to mould them into a new generation of hospitality people through your own philosophy, your own vision, your own lens.”
David is happy to be back in the kitchen. Photo: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
David also says that despite things being “different to what they used to be,” he’s still happy to be back and sharing his vision not only with his staff, but with long-time and new customers as well.
“It’s so good to be doing this food again. I have creative freedom that reflects the space that Elvis [David’s business partner] built. It’s important for the food to fit in with the personality of the restaurant otherwise it doesn’t make sense,” he concludes.
“It is a marathon. We just have to make sure that we deliver quality consistently, be humble in our mistakes and we’re going to make them because of this difficult time. We hope the public is patient with us and with all restaurants.
“But it is good to be back. It’s home really.”
A welcoming home which is open to all who want to enjoy a slice of David’s iconic and quirky dishes.
Professor George Paxinos is arguably one of the greatest minds in the world, having identified and named more brain structures in rats and humans than anyone in history.
Like many brain cartographers before him, he’s also principally published his work and research in books – 58 to be exact. These works have led to advancements in the prevention, treatment and cure of brain and spinal cord diseases, disorders and injuries.
But Professor Paxinos has also always had the urge to write a fiction novel focused on environmental concerns, such as deforestation and climate change. This urge has led to the publication of his new thrilling environmental crime novel – A River Divided.
How environmental frustrations inspired Professor Paxinos:
Speaking with The Greek Herald after the release of A River Divided, Professor Paxinos says the novel “came out of a continuous defeat in things that I tried to do to protect the environment.”
Professor George Paxinos is arguably one of the greatest minds in the world.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, Professor Paxinos was the principal advocate for the return of trams to Sydney, founding The Light Rail Association of which he served as President. The Association aimed to reduce reliance on the car and reduce atmospheric pollution.
But despite Professor Paxinos’ best efforts, the tramway infrastructure of Sydney was not preserved and once the CBD and South East Light Rail network began to be built in October 2015, the environmental impact was huge.
“I was frustrated because I was losing every time and I thought if I were to write a novel, as they weren’t many novels on the environment back then, that I might be able to take the reader with me and make change in behaviour upstream from action – that is, to change attitude,” Professor Paxinos says.
Professor Paxinos’ 21-year writing odyssey:
After making this decision to write the novel, the neuroscientist began to think about a plot and he says it came to him one night at a Christmas Party in 1999.
His writing journey took 21 years.
“I was with some friends and someone asked me what we’re doing and I said, ‘we’re going to Spain’ and they asked, ‘if you’re going to Spain why don’t you visit San Juan de Compostela? The church where the bones of St James are buried’,” Professor Paxinos explains.
“I thought at that moment, ‘I’ll take some DNA and see what the guy looked like’ but then I thought, ‘why not someone far greater?’ The idea of cloning the remains of Jesus came to mind… and having him look at the world today and seeing what his reaction would be to the environmental issues that are facing us.”
It’s from this moment on that A River Divided was born.
The novel begins with Jesus’ DNA being discovered and then cloned to bring twins into the world. Separated by circumstance, the twins are unaware of each other’s existence and they live completely different lives. One day, they coincidentally meet and come to logger-heads over a project in the Amazon rainforest that could threaten life as people know it.
His new novel, A River Divided.
This narrative is so well-written and meticulously researched that it’s no surprise it took Professor Paxinos 21 years to finish writing it in a way which pays homage to religion, the environment and science.
“Of course, I had my day job but it was more so that… novel writing is a different skill to scientific writing. I thought it would be a good transfer of skills,” he says.
“I had the background [as] I was teaching neuroscience. I had also a long-standing interest in the environment… so I had that benefit but still, it is a lot of work to make the words.”
Despite this, the words Professor Paxinos did use in A River Divided dance across the pages as a demanding tango between scientific rationalism and literature.
Pope Francis has begun his apostolic journey to the eastern Mediterranean region, flying first to Cyprus in his two-nation visit.
Accompanying him on the 3-hour flight from Rome on an A320 plane of Italy’s new state-owned flag carrier ITA Airways, were 77 journalists, 7 of them from Cyprus and Greece.
Pope Francis greeted and thanked them for their company.
“It is a beautiful journey, and we will also touch some wounds,” he told them.
“I hope we can all welcome all the messages we will find.”
The Pope met with President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiades, local Authorities, Civil Society, and the Diplomatic Corps, praising the island nation as “a crossroads of civilizations.”
President Anastasiades thanked Pope Francis for his visit to Cyprus, highlighting the nation’s long history of welcoming people to its land, and the key role it has played given its geographic location between west and east, while favoring peaceful coexistence and welcome to other peoples.
The multi-ethnic makeup is characteristic of the nation, he noted, while expressing his support for the work of the Holy See in promoting peace and dialogue throughout the world.
He also noted how Cyprus has welcomed so many refugees and migrants to its land, and thanked Pope Francis for all he has done in this area, especially bringing 50 migrants from Cyprus to Italy.
He underscored the ongoing challenge presented by a divided Cyprus.
“I pray for your peace, for the peace of the entire island, and I make it my fervent hope,” the Pope said.
