20:45-21:45, Tuesday 15th September 2026
The Cockpit
Music & Words: Athanasia Kontou
Everyone goes through heartbreak in their 20s but what if you need surgery to fix it?
Composer-comedian Athanasia Kontou was enjoying life, partying with her friends and dating casually to avoid heartache, when she found out she already had two holes in her heart. In this one-woman comedy music show, she tells the personal story of her transformative heart surgery. Stories from Athanasia’s diary entries, songs about being in pain, and jokes about anxiety, coalesce into an authentic, hilarious, and dark hour about finding strength and resilience in vulnerability.
The show might remind you of Bo Burnham’s “Inside”, if he was a classically trained composer.
Athanasia Kontou developed this work as part of her Artistic Research Doctorate at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in 2023 and won RLPO’s Rushworth Composition Prize in 2019. She is the winner of Austria’s Best New Comedian 2025.
Age range: 18+
In a festival of new work, please note that shows can often overrun.
Produced by Athanasia Kontou
Venue: The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH.
On the same day:
Concept: Athanasia Kontou Music: Athanasia Kontou Text: Athanasia Kontou Dramaturgy: Athanasia Kontou Performer (storytelling, stand-up comedy, singer): Athanasia Kontou
Concept: Athanasia Kontou
Music: Athanasia Kontou
Text: Athanasia Kontou
Dramaturgy: Athanasia Kontou
Performer (storytelling, stand-up comedy, singer): Athanasia Kontou