2015 INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ANCIENT GREEK DRAMA

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More about the event:

MEDEA by Euripides │Theatro ENA, Cyprus

▪ Wednesday 1 July│Paphos Ancient Odeon [official Festival’s opening]

▪ Friday 3 July│Curium Ancient Theatre

▪ Sunday 12 July│“Skali” Amphitheatre, Aglantzia

The staggering tragedy Medea by Euripides, a production by Theatrο Ena in cooperation with Theatre Versus, will open this year’s International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama. In this masterly tragedy, which deals with the last act of the passionate affair between Jason and Medea, Jason decides to abandon his wife in order to marry the daughter of the king of Corinth. Medea takes the cruelest revenge: she kills their two children. With Medea which combines moral complexity with overwhelming emotional impact, Euripides has succeeded in creating not only one of the most powerful figures in all Greek literature, but also one of its greatest tragic dramas.

▪ With English surtitles

Translation: Giorgos Chimonas

Direction: Andreas Christodoulides

Set and Costume Designer: Stavros Antonopoulos

Music: Ross Daly

Choreographer: Alexis Vassiliou

Assistant Director: Marinos Anogyriatis

Assistant Choreographer: George Dimopoulos

Cast:

Erica Mpegeti (Medea), Giorgos Tzortzis (Jason), Penny Foiniri (Nurse), Sotiris Mestanas (Creon/Aegeus), Andreas Makris (Tudor), Manolis Michaelides (Messenger), Irene Constantinou, Elena Christofi, Fani Petsa, Chrysi Andreou, Kalliroi Koroniou, Stalo Stylianou (Chorus)

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ANTIGONE by Sophocles │National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbia

▪ Monday 6 July│Curium Ancient Theatre

▪ Tuesday 7 July│Curium Ancient Theatre

The National Theatre of Belgrade, with a history of 150 years of theatre production, presents Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, offering to the audience a unique blend of Serbian coloring and ancient Greek culture, through the contemporary approach of Jagoš Marković, one of the most prominent theatre directors in Serbia. In an era where the victims are categorised according to the side they come from, or creed, or nation, the act of Antigone who against the law of the king/power decides to bury her brother, honouring the unwritten laws of the heart, represents an essential, great and compassionate act of freedom and love, even though “the circle of death continues”.

▪ With English and Greek surtitles

Translated by Miloš Đurić

Director: Jagoš Marković
Dramaturge: Molina Udovički Fotez
Set Designer: Jagoš Marković  
Costume Designer: Bojana Nikitović
Stage Speech PhD: Ljiljana Mrkić Popović
Sound Design: Vladimir Petričević
Producer: Borislav Balać

Cast:

Vanja Ejdus (Antigone), Aleksandar Srećković (Creon), Vjera Mujović (Ismene), Predrag Ejdus (Chorus), Mihailo Janketić (Tiresias), Bojan Krivokapić (Sentry), Marko Janjić (Messenger), Sloboda Mićalović Ćetković (Eurydice), Momčilo Otašević (Haemon), Milan Šavija, Zoran Trifunović (Entourage, Guards)

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PEACE by Aristophanes│Yiolanta Christodoulou Theatre Group, Cyprus

▪ Friday 10 July│Curium Ancient Theatre

▪ Tuesday 14 July│Paphos Ancient Odeon

▪ Thursday 16 July│“Skali” Amphitheatre, Aglantzia

A new theatre group, founded by Yiolanta Christodoulou, presents the anti-war utopia Peace by Aristophanes. The Athenian Trygaeus is fed up with war and with a huge beetle leading him, flies up to Olympus, to seek assistance from Zeus. However, even in heaven reigns War, who has imprisoned Peace. Trygaeous tricks War, allies with Hermes and with the help of the Chorus sets Peace free. This comedy, more contemporary than ever, reflects the human desire for a peaceful life, free of wars and bloodshed, while it reminds us that the motives and the wrong choices people make through the centuries, unfortunately remain unchanged.

▪ With English surtitles

Research/Text adaptation: the team of actors

Direction: Yiolanta Christodoulou

Movement coaching: Chloe Melidou

Music: Nektarios Rodosthenous

Set design: Elena Kotasvili, Alexis Vagianos

Costume design: Marina Hadjilouca

Light design: Alexander Jotovic

Production Manager: Yiangos Hadjiyiannis

Cast:

Lea Maleni (Trygaeus), Costas Silvestros (Hermes/Chorus), Thanasis Ioannou (War/Chorus), Yiolanta Christodoulou (Servant/Chorus), Maria Philippou (Peace/Chorus).

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HIPPOLYTUS, based on Euripides│Induo Teatro Producciones, Spain

▪ Sunday 19 July│Paphos Ancient Odeon

▪ Tuesday 21 July│“Skali” Amphitheatre, Aglantzia

The Induo Teatro Producciones, after the successful presentation of the flamenco Medea in 2013, returns to Cyprus to present Hippolytus, adapted and directed by the award winning Jose Manuel Sánchez “Andreu”. In Hippolytus, one of the most contemporary theatre plays of universal dramaturgy, Euripides sets up a masterful trap, escalated into tragic, where gods play a key role, leading humans in a disastrous conspiracy of silence, in unavoidable error, in punishment but also in forgiveness. The director aims to recompose the first tragedy written by Euripides, Hippolytus-covered-up, based on the surviving “Hippolytus Bearer of the Garland” and other texts of ancient literature and presents a testimony of the dilemma between passion and logic.

▪ With Greek and English surtitles

Adaptation/Direction: Jose Manuel Sánchez “Andreu”

Set and light design: INDUO TEATRO

Costumes: Pilar Jiménez, Jose Manuel Sánchez “Andreu”

Light and sound technician: David Ojeda

Assistant director: Chico García

Cast:

Chico García (Hippolytus), Pilar Jiménez (Phaedra), Mativel Valladares (Nurse), Jesús Luque (Theseus), María Benítez (Aphrodite), Rafa Berón (Messenger).

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ELECTRA by Sophocles │The CAMERI Theatre of Tel Aviv, Israel

▪ Tuesday 28 July│Paphos Ancient Odeon

▪ Thursday 30 July│“Skali” Amphitheatre, Aglantzia

The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv, after its unforgettable staging of the co-production Antigone in 2008, returns to the Festival to present Electra, a production that received rave reviews and among others the awards: “The Israeli Theatre Prize 2015”: Best Production of the Year, the “Yosef Milo Prize” for Best Director of the Year 2014, “The Mayor of Tel Aviv Prize for Best Actress of the Year 2014” to Ola Shor Selectar for her role as Electra and Helena Yaralova as Clytemnestra. The renowned Kfir Azoulai outlines the character of Electra and her extreme emotions: her passion for revenge, the pain caused to her by the murder of her father and the deprivation of her brother Orestes, in a setting that reflects their enclosed, frozen world, victims of their obsession for revenge, a revenge that cannot bring redemption.

▪ With Greek and English surtitles

Translation: Aharon Shabtai

Direction: Kfir Azoulai

Set /Costume design: Polina Adamov

Original music: Eldad Lidor

Music direction and arrangements: Elad Hadar

Light design: Keren Granek

Video art: Yoav Cohen

Language coach: Dan Inbar

Cast:

Ola Shor Selektar (Electra), Udi Rothschild (Orestes), Helena Yaralova (Clytemnestra), Yossi Kantz (Pedagogue), Anastasia Fein (Chrysothemis), Yigael Zachs (Aegisthus), Hagar Danon, Mona Mop-Markovitch, Liat Stern, Dana Vishinsky (Chorus)

Musician on stage: Elad Hadar (keyboard)

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