Press Release
Flash Festival returns for its second edition as a festival, continuing its journey as a platform dedicated to supporting and showcasing contemporary artistic creation in Cyprus. Launched in 2020 as FlashArt, an annual programme, the initiative has evolved into a festival that continues to make space for new creations and diverse artistic approaches.
The three-day festival presents a programme of performances, projects and screenings, bringing together artists working across dance, music, theatre, performance and film. From experimental audiovisual performances and contemporary choreography to theatre and queer cinema, Flash Festival offers audiences an opportunity to encounter different artistic languages and perspectives.
This year's programme features works by Benjamin Kahn, Androula, Emiddio Vasquez, Stelios Antoniou, x.ypno and Evita Ioannou, alongside a film selection curated by Queer Wave. The festival also extends beyond the physical stage through a special digital intervention by Associate Artist in Residence 2026, Suzana Phialas.
The performances will take place on the stage of Rialto Theatre, with audience seating also arranged on stage, creating an intimate and immersive experience that brings spectators closer to the artists and the work.
THE PROGRAMME
FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER
19:00 | The Blue Hour | Benjamin Kahn | 55’ | €10
The Blue Hour completes choreographer Benjamin Kahn's trilogy of portraits, exploring a transitional moment between night and day as a reflection of a society facing ideological and ecological crises. Performed by Théo Aucremanne, the solo draws on diverse movement languages, from classical dance and cabaret to krump and stepping, navigating vulnerability, transformation and the possibility of a new beginning.
21:00 | Songs from Troodos and other forests | Androula | 40’ | €8
Androula Kafa presents a cycle of songs developed through encounters with the more-than-human world, particularly the mountains and forests of Troodos. Combining voice, electronics and the body, the performance moves through expressions of mourning, desire, prayer and protest, creating a soundscape that confronts contemporary ecological and political realities while searching for wonder and collective catharsis.
22:00 | Opening Party | Penny K | Free entry
SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER
19:00 | 21S | Emiddio Vasquez feat. Stelios Antoniou and Elvin Brandhi | 40’ | €8
21S is a live improvised audiovisual performance revisiting the psychogeography of Ayia Napa, once a centre of the UK Garage scene. Combining fractured breakbeats, experimental sound, field recordings and AI-generated visuals, Emiddio Vasquez, Stelios Antoniou and Elvin Brandhi explore the uneasy intersection of club culture and militarism, bringing together music, technology and collective improvisation.
20:00 | Acts We Perform | Selection of Short Films from Queer Wave | 70’ | €8
A selection of five films from the seventh edition of Queer Wave, exploring the relationship between performance and performativity. Through stories of identity, gender, sexuality, belonging and resistance, the programme brings together diverse cinematic perspectives and challenges established narratives. The selection includes Tuna Tartare, Kiloran Bay, Sorry, Andro and Our Joyful Endings.
Programme curated by Diego Armando Aparicio Elia, Festival Director of Queer Wave. All films are presented with English subtitles.
21:30 | TRACKS: From Stone to Concrete | x.ypno | 50’ | €8
TRACKS: From Stone to Concrete by x.ypno traces a journey from the historic, stone-built neighbourhoods of Nicosia to the contemporary concrete landscape of Limassol. Drawing inspiration from the freestyle rap cyphers of Faneromeni Square, the performance combines spoken word, rap, live music and dynamic visuals, bringing together contemporary Cypriot dialect, urban memory and musical experimentation.
SUNDAY 29 NOVEMBER
19:00 | The Effect | Lucy Prebble | Directed by Evita Ioannou | Satiriko Theatre | Theatre | 90 minutes | 16+ | | €13
Satiriko Theatre presents, for the first time in Cyprus, Lucy Prebble's award-winning play The Effect, directed by Evita Ioannou. Two participants in a clinical trial for a new antidepressant fall in love, raising questions about whether their feelings are genuine or chemically induced. With humour and sensitivity, the play explores love, mental health, the ethics of science and the boundaries between emotion and biology.
BEYOND THE STAGE
Suzana Phialas | The Feed as Stage
Associate Artist in Residence 2026
Throughout the three days of Flash Festival, Associate Artist in Residence Suzana Phialas takes over Rialto Theatre's Instagram with a digital intervention that moves beyond the physical stage and into the architecture of the scroll. Through a curated sequence of generative AI scores, unreleased movement studies and fragments from her digital archives, Phialas brings together somatic restriction and synthetic intelligence, transforming the Rialto Theatre Instagram feed into a living, algorithmic gallery.
TICKETS & INFORMATION
Flash Festival 2026
27–29 November 2026
Rialto Theatre, Limassol
Festival Pass: €30
Individual tickets:
• The Blue Hour: €10
• All other performances and screenings: €8
• The Effect: €13
Tickets are available through Rialto Theatre's box office and website: https://rialto.interticket.com/programseries/flash-festival-2026-26
Organiser: Rialto Theatre
Institutional Sponsor: Deputy Ministry of Culture, Department of Contemporary Culture
Supported by: Limassol Municipality
Platinum Sponsors: MEDOCHEMIE, Alpha Bank Cyprus, Bank of Cyprus, Eurobank, P.M Tseriotis
Gold Sponsors: Island Oil Holdings, Mediterranean Beach Hotel, Atlas Pantou, Crowne Plaza, KPMG, Fidelius, VNK Capital
Hospitality Sponsor: Alinea
Official Communications Partner: Kathimerini
Media Sponsors: RIK, Kanali 6, Wiz Guide, Vestnik Kypra, Russian Wave
