Journey to the Land of the Ugly

GNO Learning & Participation

Educational Programme Sponsor 3^rd Bell Opera

3^rd Bell Opera, the highly successful programme of inter-artistic and pedagogical initiatives for primary education schools, completes its fifth year of implementation with the music theatre performance, Journey to the Land of the Ugly, a subversive performance for children and adults, who dare to be themselves. Trevor Grahl created the musical composition, while Andriana Minou penned the libretto. Kyriaki Kountouri conducts the instrumental ensemble, and Theano Metaxa is responsible for the stage direction. The artistic team also includes soloist Sofia Ketetzian and actor Ilias Vogiatzidakis.

The performance is the artistic outcome of the educational program 3rd Bell Opera, which is being implemented for the fifth consecutive year with the generous sponsorship of Piraeus Bank. The support of the educational program falls within the framework of the bank’s multifaceted Corporate Responsibility initiative “Equall – For a Society of Equal People,” and more specifically, under the pillar dedicated to the New Generation.

Over two hundred students from eleven primary schools in Attica will take the stage and transport us to a surreal… shapeless destination, where acceptance, solidarity, and equality play the leading role. The journey will begin in a strange world called Tetragonia, where emotions and deviations have been eliminated in the name of normalcy and uniformity. Within this dull environment, three children who do not conform to the rules of this world will embark on a quest to find the Other – the unpredictable, the humorous, the authentic.

The performance attempts a profound confrontation with the concepts of the “normal” and the “ugly” (which signifies lacking form/shape), while humorously and imaginatively raising topical questions about stereotypes and prejudices. The Journey to the Land of the Ugly is a stage experience based on free personal expression and interaction. As the director, Theano Metaxa, notes: “Our intention is to create a space of freedom, where every voice and every body has enough room to exist as they are, with their imperfections and moments of embarrassment. We do not constantly try to synchronize with each other, but to co-exist. We want to leave room for the unfamiliar and for spontaneous expression.”

The musical composition is structured around a dialogue between contrasts, and, in this way, serves as a dramaturgical mirror of the action.  Composer Trevor Grahl explains: “I wanted to fill the work with a variety of styles and musical approaches. In Tetragonia, we hear a cold, conformist atmosphere. On the contrary, in the Land of the Ugly, we hear fluidity and emotional liberation…” The work’s imaginative music is enriched by sounds, soundscapes, and musical motifs that emerged from the students during the educational programme. As the composer himself remarks, “I invited the children to participate as co-composers of the work. It is wonderful when, as a composer, you don’t need to come up with all the ideas yourself.”

The schools that participated in the programme from October 2024 to May 2025 were the following: 1^st Special Primary School of Peristeri, 1^st Experimental Primary School of Chalandri, 10^th Primary School of Chaidari, 2^nd  Primary School of Egaleo “Nikos Gatsos”, 29^th Primary School of Athens “Nikos Gatsos”, 4^th Primary School of Peristeri, 54^th Primary School of Piraeus, 7^th Primary School of Glyfada,  8^th Primary School of Dafni, 85^th Primary School of Athens, and the 9^th Primary School of Glyfada.  

The Journey to the Land of the Ugly is not a work for impeccable children and perfect parents. It is a work dedicated to all those who don’t fit in “four upright corners.”

A few works about the work

The Journey to the Land of the Ugly is a story about diversity, our need to belong, and the courage required to be ourselves. The work is set in Tetragonia, a land where everything, including its inhabitants, is square-shaped. Everything is square-shaped in Tetragonia, even emotions. Three children who are different from the rest of the Tetragonians follow the riddle of the mysterious Queen Corner, searching for the enigmatic “happiness.” So, they reach the surreal Land of the Ugly and discover a world they had never imagined. Could it be that the Ugly may help them solve the riddle? Who wrote the age-old law of Tetragonia, which allows one to be anything they want, as long as they are square-shaped? Will the three children succeed in conveying the message of true freedom to the Tetragonians? Inspired by these and more questions, the Journey to the Land of the Ugly emphasizes the significance of acceptance, solidarity, equality, and critical thinking about stereotypes, prejudices, and all those things we blindly accept, just because this is what we have learnt to do rather than because it makes our lives better. Through a work brimming with humor and imagination, children engage with these highly topical issues. Perhaps the Journey to the Land of the Ugly is – also for them – a journey towards self-awareness, a deeper understanding of the world, and the hope for a more open-minded society.

— Andriana Minou

A few words about the educational programme

3^rd Bell Opera is an eight-month-long inter-artistic educational music theatre programme with a long-standing presence in the programming of the GNO Learning & Participation Department. The programme aspires to introduce teachers and students to the fascinating artistic workings of preparing and presenting a contemporary music theatre work through a series of workshops that utilize modern and innovative tools throughout a school year. During the programme, participants have the chance to familiarize themselves and experiment with opera and music theatre practices, aimed at fostering experiential learning, spreading knowledge, and cultivating skills that can be incorporated into the curriculum.

— GNO Learning & Participation

The performance will be fully accessible providing an inclusive audiovisual experience for all audiences in collaboration with ATLAS E.P. In this context, there will be designated seats for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and use Greek Sign Language, places for those who rely on captions (CAPS) covering the entire audio channel, as well as seats for individuals who are blind or have limited access to the visual channel of communication and use the audio description (AD) service. Guide dogs for the visually impaired will also be permitted.

The full accessibility services for this production are funded by the Ministry of Culture, as part of the project“SUB.1.1.6 Attracting 65+ individuals and persons with disabilities to events of the Greek National Opera”. This project is implemented as part of the “Greece 2.0 - National Recovery and Resilience Plan” with funds from the European Union-NextGeneration EU.