In the last theatrical winter, more than 80 permanent Athenian theaters presented more than 200 performances, of various kinds and style, of classical and contemporary, Greek and foreign repertoire.
In the last few years there is a tendency to present mainly ancient drama in the summer period, during summer festivals, for artistic but mainly for touristic reasons. There was however a pleasant exception in the winter stages: George Biniaris’s “Antigone”. It was an experimental performance. It was based mainly on ancient metrics, Smaro Grigoriadou’s music and on the technique of modern performance, with only mediator an actor who spoke the original ancient text, not a translation in new Greek.
If we leave aside mediocre performances, we can mention the following performances who have a certain quality and originality.
A really original and spectacular performance in the main stage of National Theater was that of “Henry the IV” by Luigi Pirandelo, directed by Dimitris Mavrikios. Scenery and costumes were made by Dionisis Fotopoulos. Their contribution was decisive, because they managed to show the multiple metatheatrical levels of scenic realization. The direction, though it reminded that of Patrice Sereau, was based very loosely on the text, enriching it with dramatist’s biographical elements (his wife was treated in a psychiatric clinic).
Fiodor Dostojevsky’s “Idiot”, directed by Stathis Livathinos, was another remarkable performance. The laborious task of dramatizing a novel and the successful depiction of tsaric Russia was enthusiastically received by the Athenian audience, despite the length of the performance (six hours). More and more companies present dramatized novels on the contemporary Athenian stage, combined with modern forms of stage art, like performance and “play in evolution”. However, those presented in the past winter, despite the good will of their creators, didn’t succeed in satisfying the audience.
The “Ten commands” of the bible (Don’t kill, don’t steal, etc.) were staged by new and successful directors, one command each. The majority of them, however, didn’t manage to overcome the level of mediocrity.
Greek repertoire had an eminent place in the winter productions. Two great performances of the period 2005-2006 were repeated, received warmly by the audience: Vasilis Katsikonouris’s “The milk”, directed by Nikos Mastorakis, and Yannis Tsiros’s “Unshaved chins”, directed by Vasilis Papageorgiou.
The theme of the plays was “the foreigner”, “the refugee”, “the emigrant” in the Greek society. To the same category belong two other successful performances, Vasilis Katsikouris’s “California dreaming”, directed by Takis Tzakamias, and Leonid Prousalis’s “Seven logical responses”, directed by Antonis Antipas.
The surprise however came at the end of the season, with Marios Ponticas’s “Casandra addressing the dead”, directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos. The play-writer, though belonging to a previous generation (together with Kambanellis, Matesis, Anagnostakis etc.) managed to present something original, an intertextual play, based on Casandra and her prophetic ability.
Departing from the Greek myth and the tragedy creates a deep philosophical essay on life and death, the “down” and “upper” world, utilizing techniques of surrealism and the theater of absurd. The director, widely known here and abroad for his successful performances, especially of ancient drama, managed, with an abstract scenery and his talented actors, to give form to Casandra’s “unspeakable” and “uncommunicative” words.
Intentionally lengthening the rhythm of the stage action, together with the actors’s repetitive charge of the kinesiology, managed to depict the sense of the endless and eternally repeated, in “ the place without time and the time without place”, Hades, the underworld, where the plot takes place.
Finally we have to mention the impressive performance of Ugo von Hofmanstal’s “Helectra”, directed by Thomas Moschopoulos, given at the “Musical Palace of Athens”, and performances of foreign companies in Athens, like “Richard III” adapted and directed by Suleiman al Masam from Qatar, and Bob Wilson’s “Rumi: in the Blink of the Eye”. These were the final performances of this theatrical winter, and now we are looking forward to the summer festival of Athens and Epidaurus.
In the last few years there is a tendency to present mainly ancient drama in the summer period, during summer festivals, for artistic but mainly for touristic reasons. There was however a pleasant exception in the winter stages: George Biniaris’s “Antigone”. It was an experimental performance. It was based mainly on ancient metrics, Smaro Grigoriadou’s music and on the technique of modern performance, with only mediator an actor who spoke the original ancient text, not a translation in new Greek.
If we leave aside mediocre performances, we can mention the following performances who have a certain quality and originality.
A really original and spectacular performance in the main stage of National Theater was that of “Henry the IV” by Luigi Pirandelo, directed by Dimitris Mavrikios. Scenery and costumes were made by Dionisis Fotopoulos. Their contribution was decisive, because they managed to show the multiple metatheatrical levels of scenic realization. The direction, though it reminded that of Patrice Sereau, was based very loosely on the text, enriching it with dramatist’s biographical elements (his wife was treated in a psychiatric clinic).
Fiodor Dostojevsky’s “Idiot”, directed by Stathis Livathinos, was another remarkable performance. The laborious task of dramatizing a novel and the successful depiction of tsaric Russia was enthusiastically received by the Athenian audience, despite the length of the performance (six hours). More and more companies present dramatized novels on the contemporary Athenian stage, combined with modern forms of stage art, like performance and “play in evolution”. However, those presented in the past winter, despite the good will of their creators, didn’t succeed in satisfying the audience.
The “Ten commands” of the bible (Don’t kill, don’t steal, etc.) were staged by new and successful directors, one command each. The majority of them, however, didn’t manage to overcome the level of mediocrity.
Greek repertoire had an eminent place in the winter productions. Two great performances of the period 2005-2006 were repeated, received warmly by the audience: Vasilis Katsikonouris’s “The milk”, directed by Nikos Mastorakis, and Yannis Tsiros’s “Unshaved chins”, directed by Vasilis Papageorgiou.
The theme of the plays was “the foreigner”, “the refugee”, “the emigrant” in the Greek society. To the same category belong two other successful performances, Vasilis Katsikouris’s “California dreaming”, directed by Takis Tzakamias, and Leonid Prousalis’s “Seven logical responses”, directed by Antonis Antipas.
The surprise however came at the end of the season, with Marios Ponticas’s “Casandra addressing the dead”, directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos. The play-writer, though belonging to a previous generation (together with Kambanellis, Matesis, Anagnostakis etc.) managed to present something original, an intertextual play, based on Casandra and her prophetic ability.
Departing from the Greek myth and the tragedy creates a deep philosophical essay on life and death, the “down” and “upper” world, utilizing techniques of surrealism and the theater of absurd. The director, widely known here and abroad for his successful performances, especially of ancient drama, managed, with an abstract scenery and his talented actors, to give form to Casandra’s “unspeakable” and “uncommunicative” words.
Intentionally lengthening the rhythm of the stage action, together with the actors’s repetitive charge of the kinesiology, managed to depict the sense of the endless and eternally repeated, in “ the place without time and the time without place”, Hades, the underworld, where the plot takes place.
Finally we have to mention the impressive performance of Ugo von Hofmanstal’s “Helectra”, directed by Thomas Moschopoulos, given at the “Musical Palace of Athens”, and performances of foreign companies in Athens, like “Richard III” adapted and directed by Suleiman al Masam from Qatar, and Bob Wilson’s “Rumi: in the Blink of the Eye”. These were the final performances of this theatrical winter, and now we are looking forward to the summer festival of Athens and Epidaurus.
