By Ioanna Gkomouza
Not to miss while in Greece, the performances of the historical festival take place in iconic monuments, such as the Roman Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the feet of the Acropolis and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus (a 2 hours drive south of Athens), as well as in the former industrial complex of Peiraios 260.
ODEON OF HERODES ATTICUS
Jakub Józef Orliński – Il Pomo d’Oro (16/7)
Α counter tenor, a model and a breakdancer? The Polish singer with “the most eerily beautiful voice on the planet” can claim to have conquered the stages of the world’s greatest concert halls and the covers of fashion magazines. His live recorded performance of Vivaldi’s aria Vedrò con mio diletto has over 11,000,000 views on YouTube. Along with the acclaimed ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, they present early Baroque compositions, many of which are rarely performed.
La traviata (27, 28, 30, 31/7)
Τhe American opera superstar Nadine Sierra and the distinguished Greek soprano Vassiliki Karayanni will be performing the role of Violetta Valéry in the Greek National Opera’s production of Verdi’s masterpiece. One of the most popular works in the repertoire of the Italian composer, the story recounts the ill-fated love of a courtesan for the son of an eminent Parisian household.
ANCIENT THEATRE OF EPIDAURUS
Oresteia (12 & 13/7)
The National Theatre of Greece and acclaimed director Theodoros Terzopoulos are staging the only surviving trilogy of ancient Greek drama, inspired by myth of the Atreidae. In Agamemnon the triumphant general is returning to his palace in Mycenae, after 10 years of war in Troy, only to meet his death by the hand of his wife. In Choephori his son Orestes avenges Agamemnon’s death and seeks Apollo’s protection at Delphi, while the Furies come after him. Eumenides is based on myths about Orestes’ flight to Athens and his trial by the gods of Olympus.
Plutus (19 & 20/7)
“What can I do to ensure a secure future for my child?”; that’s the question the honest but poor peasant Chremylus poses to the Oracle of Delphi, in the aftermath of the defeat of the Athenians at the Peloponnesian War. Written by Aristophanes, the greatest representative of the ancient Greek comedy, the play according to director Giannis Kakleas “shows us a way of managing material goods, but always with the interests of the city in mind”.
Hecuba, not Hecuba (26 & 27/7)
Myth and reality, theatre and justice meet at the new Comédie-Française production which lands to Epidaurus, right after its premiere at the Avignon Festival. In this play by acclaimed Portuguese director Tiago Rodrigues, an actress rehearses Euripides’ Hecuba as she holds the role of Priam’s widow that has lost everything. The tragic myth nonetheless meets her real life, as she is fighting for justice for her autistic son, mistreated by the institution that was supposed to take care of him.
Bacchae (2 & 3/8)
Τhe possibilities of the soul, human virtue, self-consciousness, prudence, and fallacy, the rational and the irrational are central to Euripides’ “Bacchae” – the tragedy of Greece, of rulers and of people, according to Jan Kott. Staged by the National Theatre of Greece and director Thanos Papakonstantinou, the story takes us to Thebes where King Pentheus refuses to acknowledge his cousin Dionysus as a god. His defiance arouses the wrath of Dionysus who leads Pentheus to annihilation by his own mother.
Birds (9 & 10/8)
Two Athenians, Pisthetaerus and Euelpides, decide to leave the world of men in search of a city without pettiness and corruption, where one can live in peace and justice. Along with the Birds, they establish a utopian city in the sky. Aris Biniaris stages the famous comedy by 5th c. BC playwright Aristophanes as a performance-concert.
The Suppliants (23 & 24/8)
A poetic and deeply political play at the centre of the modern concern on the concept of asylum in a democratic society, “The Suppliants” is the first and only surviving play from Aeschylus’ Danaid Tetralogy. The story raises the issue of the female identity and place in society, as well as the fierce fate of the refugee and the value of justice.
PEIRAIOS 260
Parallax (14 & 15/7)
Three generations of a family in an apartment in Budapest. The grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, has learned to hide her Jewish identity, the daughter tries to use it to enroll her son in a better school, who chooses to identify only as a gay man. In a society in crisis is it possible to remain neutral? This is the “canvas” for the latest production by Proton Theatre and Hungarian film and stage director Kornél Mundruczó.
Point of Refreshment (23-25/7)
Can we reverse our view of the world for a moment? See beyond the world of matter? Award-winning director Argyro Chioti and a troupe of actors, dancers and singers invite us to discover a special place on the border between myth and reality, inhabited by fantasies and ghosts. A narrative that claims a return to myth.
