Koun Karolos

Karolos Koun was a Greek theater director, widely known for his lively staging of ancient Greek plays. He had been praised all over Europe for his bawdy, colorful stagings of the 5th century BC political comedies of Aristophanes. In 1942, during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II, he founded the experimental Art Theater. He gave premieres in Athens of works by avant-garde European playwrights such as Bertolt Brecht and Luigi Pirandello. In 1962, Koun's production of The Birds by Aristophanes won first prize at an international festival at Paris.
Koun worked with the actress Melina Mercouri. Under his direction, she played Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.[citation needed] Other playwrights that Koun introduced to Greek audiences include Jean Genet, F. G. Lorca and Eugene Ionesco.
Karolos Koun died on February 14, 1987, after suffering a heart attack, at the age of 78.