Acropolis Now promotional teacup, saucer and plate

Tea cup, saucer and bread and butter plate set, produced as promotional merchandise for the launch of the Australian television comedy series, ‘Acropolis Now’, which aired on HSV 7 (Channel Seven] from 1989-1992. Set in a Greek bar of the same name, it ran for 63 episodes and was produced by Crawford Productions Australia. It was created by Nick Giannopoulos, George Kapiniaris and Simon Palomares, who also starred in the series and were already known for their live theatre show ‘Wogs Out of Work.’ Each episode was 30 minutes in length and filmed in front of a live audience.

The series focused on the activities of the cafe staff. Characters included: immature cafe owner Jim Stephanidis (Giannopoulos) of Greek background; his best friend and capable manager, Ricky Martinez (Palomares) of Spanish background; Memo Hatzidimitropoulos (Kapiniaris) the ‘traditional’ Greek waiter, Liz (Tracey Callander) the liberated Australian waitress, Gavin ‘Skip’ Farrell (Simon Thorpe) the naïve new cook from the bush and Manolis the stubborn cook. The comedy centred around the continuous clash of cultures, beliefs and personalities. Jim’s hairdresser cousin Effie Stephanidis, played by Mary Coustas, became a hugely popular and enduring character during the run of the show. Other well-known Australian actors who appeared on the show included: Russell Crowe, Gina Riley, Georgie Parker, and Rhys Muldoon.

Physical Description
White china tea cup, saucer and bread and butter plate. Each has a black line embossed around the exterior with the ‘Acropolis Now’ logo . The saucer also features the Channel Seven television station logo and the bread and butter plate features the Crawfords Australia logo. The underside of each item has the maker’s mark stamped in green.

Significance
These items represent an important shift in Australian theatre and television when Australians of diverse cultural backgrounds were developing comedy through comic representations of their own cultural traditions, attitudes, behaviours, and languages. They enable discussion about forms of reappropriation of cultural stereotypes and interpretations by the people who are the focus of these representations, as well as gendered and so-called traditional Australian representations.