The important role of women in the Revolution of 1821 was not accompanied by profound social changes in the women’s position in the new Greek state. And this is how Manto Mavrogenous –of 1821 fame– joins the lively debate on gender oppression in 2021, reminding us that in today’s world, women are unfortunately still suffering under a twofold (or even threefold) oppression: because of their gender, their race and their social class.
The play Manto: La bella Greca aspires to highlight –through the juxtaposition of fictional personal statements with historical and non-historical figures– the multifaceted personality of a woman of whom we know so little and to whom we owe so much, not only as Greeks, not only as women, but also as citizens of our modern world.