ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ
PHOTO(s): We were asked to remove the photos of the play presented at the Hellenic Cultural Center operated by GOA but we are posting here some of the advertising posters… Yes, this is roughly how these actresses were dressed during the show at the “Hellenic” Cultural Center… Please try to find anything “Hellenic” in our photos… After that, we can debate how “artistic” it is… But I am sure the Fordham Orthodox Study Center and its promotion of “inclusivity” would be ecstatic… Is this where Elpidoktonos wants to guide “Orthodoxy” and “Hellenism”? And it looks like they will have a second similar show there on June 20th!!
DOES GOA PROMOTE VULGARITY AND NUDITY IN ITS CULTURAL CENTER, BUT ATTACKS FR. CHRYSOSTOM FOR “IMMORALITY”?
By Nick Stamatakis
One of the funniest things one can witness in our community’s life in Astoria has to do with GOARCH’s “Hellenic Cultural Center” at the corner of Newtown and Crescent Street, where the so-called “Thespis” Theater is housed with its about 200 seats… Yes, this is the place where personalities like Fr. Gregory Stamkopoulos – who already has two salaries from the Church in New York and an extra salary from Greece – live for free upstairs on the top floor… Yes, this is the Cultural Center established by AB Iakovos with money donated by Greek shipowners… Since the building was mortgage-free, AB Iakovos announced that the Center would be offered for free to our community’s organizations!!
PHOTO: The main entrance of the Hellenic Cultural Center” on Newtown Avenue.
For as long as I can remember, a statue of Hermes has stood near the entrance, next to the chapel door on the right. Like countless examples of classical Greek art, the statue depicts the human form in the nude. Yet before every Vespers service, someone would dutifully cover Hermes with a bedsheet. The ancient messenger of the gods, whose image has survived for centuries as part of the artistic heritage of Hellenism, suddenly became too scandalous for churchgoers to glimpse on their way into worship.
The statue remains there today, and frankly, it is one of the more amusing contradictions in our community. We are proud—very proud—of our Greek heritage. We celebrate the achievements of our ancestors, display their art, quote their philosophy, and invoke their names whenever convenient. Yet when it comes to balancing appreciation for classical culture with Christian modesty, we have traditionally understood where to draw the line. Covering a statue before a church service may strike some as excessive, but at least it reflected an effort to distinguish between admiration for classical art and the standards of decorum expected in a religious setting.
Apparently, however, the current management of the Cultural Center has decided to redraw that line entirely.
At the end of March, the Thespis Theater hosted Cristi’s Case Crackers – Once Upon a Time on… Clarantino’s Pilot, an interactive murder-mystery production from the ongoing Cristi’s Case Crackers series. The show blends comedy, audience participation, karaoke, and pop-culture parody in a format inspired by Agatha Christie-style mysteries. Promotional material described it as a satirical tribute to Quentin Tarantino and Hollywood filmmaking.
All of that is perfectly legitimate theater. The question is not whether people should enjoy comedy, mystery, or satire. The question is whether a facility that presents itself as a “Hellenic Cultural Center” and operates under the umbrella of our Archdiocese should be promoting material that many members of the community would regard as crude, vulgar, and needlessly explicit.
Take a look at the advertising posters from the production and ask yourself: where exactly was the line crossed? At what point did “Hellenic culture” become indistinguishable from the latest trends in shock entertainment? When did the promotion of culture become an excuse for pushing ever more provocative content under the banner of art?
Let us be clear. Greeks have never been ashamed of classical art. The nude forms of ancient sculpture were expressions of beauty, proportion, heroism, and the idealized human condition. They were not created to provoke, shock, or advance ideological fashions. We can appreciate the artistic legacy of ancient Greece while still recognizing that there is a difference between classical aesthetics and contemporary performances that rely on increasingly explicit imagery and sensationalism.
What makes this episode particularly ironic is that the same institution that felt compelled to cover a marble Hermes before Vespers now appears comfortable presenting performances that many would consider far more graphic, far more suggestive, and far less connected to the values it claims to represent. Hermes needed a bedsheet, but modern vulgarity apparently receives a standing ovation.
The deeper problem is not the show itself. Private theaters can stage whatever productions they wish, and audiences are free to attend or stay home. The problem is the identity crisis of an institution that calls itself “Hellenic” while increasingly embracing whatever happens to be fashionable in contemporary cultural circles. Instead of elevating standards, preserving heritage, and promoting excellence, it risks becoming just another venue chasing attention through controversy and provocation.
If this is the future envisioned for the GOARCH Cultural Center, then one has to ask whether its leadership still understands the difference between culture and spectacle, between artistic merit and crude exhibitionism, and between honoring Hellenism and exploiting it as a marketing label. The real danger is not that a community sees nudity. The real danger is that a community gradually loses the ability to distinguish beauty from vulgarity, heritage from ideology, and culture from mere sensationalism.
The “management” considered the show so successful that they plan to have a second show of the same group on June 20th. Here it is:
Yes, clearly “Hellenic”…
PS. Do such programs have the approval of the Pancyprian and Mr. Christopher, who made the “arrangement” with GOARCH to take over the management of the “Hellenic” Cultural Center? Or does Mr. Ammohostianos decide on his own the meaning of the word “Hellenic”? Or, finally, this degrading of the Hellenic Cultural Center serves the purpose of convincing us that the best idea is to take it down and “develop the property,” as some have already suggested? Suddenly, we have too many “real estate developers” in our hands around the headquarters and in Astoria – and this cannot be a coincidence!!
May 30, 2026, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
This is not art; it’s obscenity!
First, even if these shows have some remedial value as portraying someone’s sick artistic creation, they cross the line and offend the teachings of our Faith. They have no place in a GOA institution. Someone should be accountable for this.
Second, these are obscenity on steroids. I would not put them in the same sentence as one about classical art. Greeks celebrated perfection, the ideal form, based on harmony and balance. These idiots celebrate the opposite, ugliness and the irrational. What is cultural about that?
I know that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but these are obscene!
It is not difficult to define obscenity. Justice Potter Stewart famously said in one of his Supreme Court decisions that he had difficulty defining it, “but I know it when I see it!”
The Supreme Court ultimately decided that if the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, or depicts in a patently offensive way sexual conduct, and it lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value, then it is OBSCENE.
Defined or not, Elpidoktonos better get this crap out now!
Very well stated Leonidas!! Thank you for the commentary…
Was the local BDSM community or LGBTQ+ community involved?
Not sure – the management of the “Hellenic” Cultural Center needs to answer this question
They know very well what they’re doing. Just as the Archbishop knew very well what he was doing when he baptized the adopted children of a gay couple. I don’t need a doctorate in theology to figure that out@
If I were not already Orthodox, this display of vulgarity would be enough to turn me away for good. As it is, I am actively seeking a parish from any other jurisdiction. There is no way anyone can legitimize this as classical Greek art.
This is quite shocking as everything else is in our failing American republic. The people in this show are lost souls. So what is the plan to confront Pancyprian and Mr. Christopher, who made the “arrangement” with GOARCH to take over the management of the “Hellenic” Cultural Center? What do we need to do? How do we stop this demeaning portrayal of Greek art?
What has happened to moral integrity? America is sliding into a black hole. Do not let your soul be tainted by such demonic trash. I am curious how much these idiots got paid to perform porn? Who hired them?
They never cease to amaze us. This semi nudity and the entire setting is right up their alley. Elpidoktonos, Nektarios, Athenagoras, Tsougarakis Apostolos, Nektarios brother ( he’s married, but then again so what) etc
That’s what orthodoxy is for them. A. Pornographic film on an extra wide screen. That’s what they have turned our church into. So yes, AUTOCEPHAPLY NOW. ANATHEMA TO ELPIDOKTONOS AND BARTHOLOMEOS. ANATHEMA TO APOSTOLOS AND ALL THE UNORTHODOX BISHOPS IN AMERICA. ANATHEMA TO ALK WHO ARE ADRAID TO SOEAK UP. TSOUNGARAKIS CONDEMS PEOPLE BASED ON ANONYMOYUS. COMPLAINTS WITHOUT EVIDENCE. PEOPLE, LETS OPEN OUR OUR EVIDENCE BOX AND LET GET RID OF ALL THESE IMMORAL GARBAGE. ANATHEMA TO ALL OF THEM
If this is what passes for “culture” at a Church-sponsored Hellenic center, then the center has forgotten both Hellenism and Christianity. But we already know that. So…Vulgarity is not art, and scandal is not enlightenment. And as for nudity Ancient Greeks did not celebrate or approve of public sexual displays as civic virtues. Sōphrosynē remained important and they would have condemned this destructive behaviour.
How disgraceful is this! For the cultural center to be used for pornographic shows!
The Superintendent of the St. Demetrios School, Father Grigorios Stamkopoulos is the manager of the Hellenic Cultural Center. He was appointed as manager of the cultural center and superintendent of the school by the Archbishop. Did Father Grigorios watch the show and approve it for spectators? The show says admission ages are 16 and older. Is this something he would allow the Saint Demetrios high school students to watch?
He has turned the cultural center into a peep show reminding us of the Times Square area before Mayor Giuliani cleaned it up!
The Archdiocese is disgraceful!
Thank you Nick for the reporting. There has to be some accountability. This is not just unacceptable it is offensive. Whoever made the arrangement for the presentation should be fired. Yesterday.
Yikes!
The problem with the Archdiocese Culture Center reveals a much deeper rot that plagues our whole community.
Yes, Elpidoktonos, Stamkopoulos, Bartholomew and their Cypriot stooges promote pornography. Yes, the Fordhamites clearly promote sodomy. Yes, the Karloutsos mafia is a criminal enterprise. Their actions speak for themselves.
But where is our community? Where do our pious and worthy priests stand on the use of the Archdiocese Culture Center for peep shows? Aren’t they paid to be our spiritual fathers, the guardians of our community ethics? Don’t they have an independent duty to speak out?
Where are the National Herald and its theologian? Where are Vanessa and Herakles Diamataris? Where is their daddy? Do they patronize these shows?
Where are the photographers who pose as journalists? What is their mission, which they holler when they solicit donations at their radiothons?
Where are the Ahepa eunuchs who pretend to be “defenders of Hellenism” and the second “pillar” of our community?
Why are they all silent? Am I cynical in concluding they too are rotten to the core? Do we expect too much from them?
Is the Greek community already dead and these cultures are merely feasting on its carcass?