Filenews 14 June 2021
Five productions make up this year's program of the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama, which takes place from 2 to 30 July in Nicosia and Limassol.
For the first time since 1997 Paphos will not host performances. In this year's 24th edition, five theatre groups from Greece, Israel, Italy and Cyprus present performances of ancient Greek drama at the Ancient Theatre of Kourium and Skali Aglantzias, from 2 July to 30 July 2021.
The Festival is co-organized by the Cultural Services of EPAN, the Cyprus Centre of the International Theatre Institute and the Ministry of Tourism. It raises a curtain after last year's cancellation due to a pandemic and is ready to offer the theatre-friendly audience that has been faithfully watching it in recent years, a July filled with moments of emotion and cheer.
The pandemic may have forced the organisers to cancel last year's event, but it has made their desire to create a high-quality programme. At the same time, in a climate of uncertainty and ambiguity imposed worldwide by the pandemic, the new challenges concerning the field of artistic events had to be addressed, with the organizers persistently planning the programme under the new conditions and in accordance with all health protocols.
The aim and desire of the organizers, for another year, is the continuation of the upward and successful course recorded by the Festival, the assurance of the artistic quality of the program of performances and the highest possible attendance of the Cypriot public and foreign visitors to the performances, for the upgrading and cultivation of theatrical education, as well as for the contribution of the Festival to the cultural tourism of our country.
Emphasizing quality and collaboration with important theatre organizations, a diverse and extroverted program is offered to viewers, with performances of contemporary aesthetic and artistic approach to ancient drama, highlighting the scope and prestige of the Festival within and outside the borders.
The five productions of this year's event
The opening of this year's event will take place with the extremely sharp and highly topical comedy of Aristophanes, Ecclesiastas, in an original version of contemporary, folk operetta in translation, libreto and music Stamatis Kraounakis and directed by Marianna Kalbaris. The co-production of the Charles Koon Art Theatre and the National Opera is a new proposal on the classic text with the music of Stamatis Kraounakis giving the form of a folk operetta to the delightful comedy, presented by a large troupe of actors and singers and with three-member live music. In the role of Praxagora, the great actress Sofia Filippidou and in the role of The Seer the internationally renowned baritone Christopher Stamboglis. After winning audiences and critics in their first presentation in the crowded Herodio in 2019 and in the performances that followed in Thessaloniki and Athens,the Ecclesiastases, come to the Ancient Theatre of Kourium for two performances on 2 and 3 July.
This is followed, for a single performance on 5 July in the Amphitheatre "Skali Aglantzias", the wise tragedy Antigone, one of the finest texts of ancient Greek dramaturgy, by the Jerusalem Khan Theatre directed by Udi Ben Moshe, one of Israel's most important directors. The timeless criticism of the arrogance of power and authoritarianism, as well as the conflict between the unwritten laws of morality and the institutional laws of the state, emerge through a modern stage reading, underlining the resistance to the modern political context and the current conflicts between religion and state.
The National Theatre of Greece returns after eleven years to the Festival and presents the Horsemen of Aristophanes, the first work of the poet with particularly intense political and satirical spikes, directed by the distinguished choreographer and director Konstantinos Rigos and with a distribution of protagonists that unite different between the stage worlds. Kostas Koklas, Konstantinos Avarikiotis, Panos Mouzourakis, Stelios Iakovidis in the main roles. On horse back, combative, hilarious, ancient and modern together, through the modern look of Konstantinos Rigos in the aristocratic comedy, the Horsemen come to "rap" at the Ancient Theatre of Kourium on July 16th and 17th.
The masterpiece tragedy Medea of Euripides, which deals with the last act of Jason and Medea's passionate relationship, is the Cypriot production of this year's event directed by Alice Danez Knutsen and with Stella Yrogenis in the lead role. Seven female actors, in a special setting with a vehicle of speech and sound, recall and re-create the dark and angry forms of the European tragedy. The production of Roads and Oranges Film Productions will be presented for two performances in the Amphitheatre "Skali Aglantzias" on 21 and 22 July and at the Ancient Theatre of Kourium on 24 July.
The production of Associazione Culturale Dide Di Michele Dio and Fahrenheit 451 Teatro of Italy, the tragic tragedy of Aeschylus, Prometheus Bondis, directed by the award-winning Daniele Salvo closes the program of this year's event, at the Amphitheatre "Skali Aglantzias" on 28 July and at the Ancient Theatre of Kourium on 30 July. Prometheus, the one who stole the fire, the enemy of the gods and friend of the people, Prometheus victim and abuser, between past and future, is a timeless symbol of resistance against power. A deeply archetypal work, Prometheus Bondis is an institutionalized poetic-philosophical treatise on human consciousness, a source of concepts and meanings that transcends the boundaries of ancient Greek mythology by running through Western thought and culture. The fire that Prometheus stole is the light that continues to burn.
Info: 7000 2414 - www.greekdramafest.com
Sale of tickets:
www.soldoutticketbox.com
STEPHANIS Stores In Cyprus
TIME OUT Pavilion in Paphos
*Pre-purchase tickets are required, as there will be no sale at the theatre counters.
Ticket prices:
▫ €12 normal
▫ €8 reduced (students, students, national guardsmen, pensioners, unemployed)
▫ €45 single (per person to watch five performances)
▫ €10 for group bookings (over 10 people per performance) at ticketing@soldoutticketbox.com
For the convenience of the public from Nicosia, a bus transfer will be offered to the Ancient Theatre of Kouriou, to monitor the performances (purchase of bus tickets through www.soldoutticketbox.com):
- Churches of Aristophanes – The folk operetta (Charles Koon Art Theatre and National Opera, Greece), on 2 and 3 July
- Horsemen of Aristophanes (National Theatre of Greece), on 16 and 17 July
Expression schedule
All performances start at 21:00
1 ARISTOPHANES - The folk operetta
Charles Koon Art Theatre and National Opera, Greece
Translation, libreto and music: Stamatis Kraounakis
Directed by Marianna Kalbari
▪ Friday, July 2nd, Ancient Theatre of Kourium
▪ Saturday, July 3rd, Ancient Theatre of Kourium
with English supertitles
2 ANTIGONI of Sophocles
Jerusalem Khan Theatre, Israel
Directed by Udi Ben Moshe
▪ Monday, July 5th, Amphitheatre "Skali Aglantzias"
with Greek and English supertitles
3 HORSEMEN of Aristophanes
NATIONAL THEATRE GREECE
Director-Chorography: Konstantinos Rigos
▪ Friday, July 16, Ancient Theatre of Kourium
▪ Saturday, July 17, Ancient Theatre of Kourium
with English supertitles
4 MEDEA of Euripides
Roads and Oranges Film Productions, Cyprus
Directed by Alice Danish Knutsen
▪ Wednesday, July 21st, Amphitheatre "Skali Aglantzias"
▪ Thursday, July 22nd, Amphitheatre "Skali Aglantzias"
▪ Saturday, July 24th, Ancient Theatre of Kourium
with English supertitles
5 AESCHYLUS
Associazione Culturale Dide di Michele Dio & Fahrenheit 451 Teatro, Italy
Directed by Daniele Salvo
▪ Wednesday, July 28, Amphitheatre "Skali Aglantzias"
▪ Friday, July 30, Ancient Theatre of Kourium
with Greek and English supertitles
