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Jan. 20, 2012 — The Allegheny College chapter of Theta Chi fraternity is bringing a production of “The Apology of Socrates” to campus for a performance that will benefit CHAPS, the Crawford County Mental Health Awareness Program. The one-man performance by Yannis Simonides, a dramatization of Plato’s “The Apology of Socrates,” will be presented at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27 in the college’s Shafer Auditorium.

Plato’s “Apology” is an account of Socrates’ defense in 399 BC when he was put on trial on charges that his philosophy was corrupting the youth of Athens and that he did not believe in the Greek gods. Socrates’ “apology” – apologia means defense in Greek – was a defense of his philosophy and actions and an affirmation of his belief that those who claim to know the truth, rather than search for it, are those who know the least.

Simonides adapted the play from Plato’s original text. An actor, writer and producer, he helped found the Greek Theatre of New York (GTNY) in 1979 and has continued to direct the GTNY. He won an Emmy Award for his documentary “A Light Still Bright,” on the historic Greek community of Istanbul.

Simonides travels around the world performing to a wide variety of audiences in many different theatrical settings, including the United Nations, Columbia University, Oxford and Cambridge Universities and the Apollo Theater in Athens.

Over the years the Greek Theatre of New York has become known for its festivals of new plays, its solo and ensemble performances, its children’s theater tours and its imaginative staging of Greek oratorios. Melina Mercouri championed it as “the longest living and most accomplished theatre of the Greek Diaspora.”

Simonides has performed “The Apology” to critical and audience acclaim. “Yannis Simonides gives a penetrating performance and brings history to life, making the immortal words of Plato as relevant today as they were when he first wrote them in ancient Greece,” said a reviewer in the National Herald. “This is a must see for lovers of Plato and Socrates and those who enjoy learning about the wisdom of the ancient Greeks—wisdom that still holds true today.”

Trained at the Yale Drama School, Simonides has served as professor and chair of the drama department at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, as executive producer of Greek Orthodox Telecommunications (GOTelecom) and as the executive director of Hellenic Public Radio – COSMOS FM in New York.

His performance work includes plays by Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Brecht, Korres, Kambanellis and others, along with solo and ensemble pieces culled from the writings of C.P. Cavafy, General Makriyannis, Nikolai Gogol and others. He narrated the PBS specials “Axion Esti,” “Visions of Greece” and “Return to the Homeland.”

Tickets for “The Apology of Socrates” are $3 for anyone with a student ID and $7 for general admission. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Simonides gives a lively and engaging performance that keeps children’s attention, and parents are encouraged to bring their families. Tickets will be sold at the door the night of the show. All proceeds benefit CHAPS.

Following the performance – which is 1 hour and 20 minutes without intermission – the audience is invited to interact with Simonides in an informal question and answer session.

More information on the Greek Theatre of New York can be found at ellinikotheatro.org. For more information on the production at Allegheny College, call Ion Simonides at 914-400-4212 or Nima Kamalpour at 724-799-3351.