Mia Iro Mia Mera

~The musical~

"Mia Iro Mia Mera" is a radio musical or album musical, i.e. a recorded musical performance without visual elements, that resembles a musical, a concept album or a musical audiobook. It has a contemporary, simple style, with lighthearted outbursts, hip-hop breaks and punchy hard rock and operatic passages.

Its aim is, among other things, to highlight sexism in Greek society, especially as it is reflected in music production. Its script was created using quotes from lyrics of well-known songs and placing them in everyday life dialogues, in an attempt to highlight their actual content, messages and consequences.

~The Plot~

The musical is set in a café/bar where Lydia and Marina are waiting for Iro, to return from an important appointment with Christos, her supervisor at work. Τhe play, finding a fine balance between humor and seriousness and respect, follows the friend group, which expands as time goes on, as they discuss modern relationships, argue in an attempt to advise Iro, and argue with the weird guys from across the table. As the conversation progresses, each time a character is about to say a sexist phrase, the music momentarily changes to a familiar piece of music, with the character singing the relevant - sexist - lyric!

~The team~

The team of "Mia Iro Mia Mera", is made up of more than 45 volunteers, who live and work in 9 different cities and 4 different countries. We come from different backgrounds and bring with us many different identities. What unites us? That we are tired of being bombarded by sexism and patriarchy everywhere!

~The creative process~

The idea for the musical was born in the spring of 2019, in the midst of a conversation about ways to understand the true dimensions of the lyrics we hear every day, in songs we love or those we accidentally encounter. Within a few days of this discussion, the collection of lyrics with sexist content has already begun, and a group of women has been formed to share their opinions and experiences through interviews, discussions and interactive "exercises". This process resulted in the creation of part of the final text, such as the main monologue.

A first draft of the script was completed in November 2021. After that, reading sessions with people who had been involved in the process up to that point and friends who showed interest in participating in the project were organised. In the spring of 2022, work began on writing the score for the musical, which now numbers more than 300 pages. During this time, we contacted and invited the people who will eventually perform the 11 roles in the musical, as well as the group of 20 musicians. A small group of people is formed to take over the communication of the project.

In January 2023 we hit the studio for the drum recording, which lasted 22 hours. At the same time, rehearsals were taking place in physical venues and online in Athens and Berlin, while the orchestration was being completed. The recording process is ongoing and we expect it to be completed in June, so that, after post-production, "Mia Iro Mia Mera" will be ready for release in September 2023.

~Financial support~

From the first steps of the project, it was decided that "Mia Iro Mia Mera" would be made available as a free release, via easily accessible and well-known platforms such as YouTube and Bandcamp.

Our goal is to get the musical to as many people as we can. In order to do so, we will need your support. The amount raised through your contribution and from financial support events in Berlin and Athens in the coming period will cover part of the basic production costs and allow us to remain independent and free in the creative process.

With the money raised we will:

• Buy tickets so that the whole cast can be in Athens for the recording XXX€
• Pay for the recording studio for xx hours of recording: XXX€