“How to live our lives? How to endure our lives?” The above, deeply political in essence, question, combined with contemporary demands for Democracy, Justice, and inclusion, runs through this year’s program of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival announced today. So, what will we see this summer at Herodes Atticus, Epidaurus, Piraeus 260, as well as in other venues connected to this year’s event?

We will see 93 productions of theater, music, dance, and performance featuring 2,500 artists from around the world. Among them are top names from the global artistic scene such as Sting, Loreena McKennitt, Charles Lloyd, Yo-Yo Ma, notable directors Timofey Kulyabin, Tiago Rodrigues, Kornél Mundruczó, and Caroline Guiela Nguyen, as well as international choreographers Serge Aimé Coulibaly, Roger Bernat, and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

However, significant and popular Greek artists and theater organizations will also provide a dynamic presence, such as Dionysis Savvopoulos, Leonidas Kavakos, Tania Tsanaklidou, and Eleonora Zouganeli, Theodore Terzopoulos, Konstantinos Rigos, the National Theatre, the Karolos Koun Art Theatre, and the State Theatre of Northern Greece, as well as young Greek creators.

“In a world ablaze, the Athens Epidaurus Festival raises its curtain this year. We aspire to show you this world under a new light and to unfold time within you during the evenings you spend with us, through a program that is polyphonic, combative, comforting, political, yet filled with true beauty,” meaningfully states the artistic director of the Festival, Katerina Evangelatou.

Herodion

This year, the Herodes Atticus Theatre will host famous foreign and Greek actors, grand orchestras, eminent conductors, and soloists. The National Opera will kick off with Puccini’s ‘Tosca,’ while it will also be responsible for the closing performance with Verdi’s ‘La Traviata,’ directed by Konstantinos Rigos.

From the Greek repertoire, notable mentions include the grand musical tribute by Dionysis Savvopoulos to the Metapolitefsi, featuring guests such as Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Dimitra Galani, Christos Thivaios, Manolis Mitsias, Panos Mouzourakis, George Dalaras, and Maria Farantouri, as well as the tribute to Mimis Plessas. Representing contemporary foreign music, we have the timeless Sting, the Canadian singer-songwriter Loreena McKennitt with her world music, and the jazz legend Charles Lloyd, who will collaborate with Maria Farantouri. Classical music enthusiasts will have the opportunity to enjoy grand orchestras, eminent conductors, and virtuoso musicians such as the Athens State Orchestra with Loukas Karytinos and the renowned Estonian-American conductor Neeme Järvi, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with Simon Rattle, the Graz Philharmonic with Vasilis Christopoulos, the Philharmonic Brass with Philippe Auguin, and the Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as the countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, the chief conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and the great musicians Leonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma, among others.

After years, dance returns to the Herodes Atticus Theatre with a major artistic event, the new creation by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Rosas, in a choreography that will flood the stage with its explosive energy.

Epidaurus

This year’s Epidaurus Festival will be inaugurated by the internationally acclaimed Russian director Timofey Kulyabin, who will present Euripides’ ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’ with the participation of notable actors such as Maria Nafpliotou, Nicolas Papanayiotou, Nikos Psarras, and others.

The second major international appearance is by the Portuguese director and new director of the Avignon Festival, Tiago Rodrigues, who directs the renowned Comédie-Française in the performance ‘Not Hecuba,’ revolving around the story of Hecuba.

The National Theatre participates in Epidaurus with two productions: Theodore Terzopoulos directs Aeschylus’ ‘Oresteia,’ and Thanos Papakonstantinou presents Euripides’ ‘Bacchae.’

This year, the State Theatre of Northern Greece will present Aristophanes’ ‘Plutus’ at the Argolic Theatre, directed by Giannis Kakleas, while Aris Biniaris will stage Aristophanes’ ‘Birds’ with Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos, Giorgos Hristostomou, and others. Moreover, Theatres Art and Neos Kosmos will join forces in Aeschylus’ ‘Suppliants,’ directed by Marianna Kalbari, starring Lydia Koniordou, Lena Papaligoura, Yiannis Tsourtekis, and featuring Marina Satti as the soloist.

At the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus, the successful cycle ‘Contemporary Ancients’ continues for the fourth year, with two performances in a single evening, engaging with works that we will also encounter at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus: ‘Ego, a Slave’ by Vangelis Hatziyannidis, inspired by Euripides’ ‘Hecuba,’ directed by Nikos Chatzopoulos, and ‘Iphigenia / Bora’ by Vivian Stergiou, inspired by ‘Iphigenia in Aulis,’ directed by Aikaterini Papageorgiou.

At the Little Epidaurus, the audience will also have the opportunity to enjoy different genres of music, such as classical lieder with our international soprano Alexia Voulgaridou, jazz adaptations of Hadjidakis and Tsitsanis by the genre’s maestro Dimitris Kalantzis, as well as a special evening with Eleonora Zouganeli, who will perform beloved folk and aristocratic rebetiko songs.

Meanwhile, the ‘Parodos’ continues, the successful interdisciplinary research program (studio residency) that was inaugurated in 2021, coordinated this year by director Simos Kakalas, who will work with new female artists and male artists on Euripides’ ‘Oresteia.’ Additionally, we will have the grape – Greek Agora of Performance, the innovative initiative for the systematic promotion and projection of Greek Theater and Dance, with eight works presented in a condensed five-day period (July 21-25) for professionals, international guests of the Festival, and the Athenian audience.

Piraeus 260

For another year, Piraeus 260 will become the meeting point and creative dialogue hub for contemporary international forces of theater and dance. From its rich program, the tribute to Lefteris Voyiatzis stands out, with the screening of his historic ‘Antigone,’ which was staged in Epidaurus in 2006, with him playing the role of Creon.

The great Belgian director Guy Cassiers will direct Konstantinos Markoulakis in the novella ‘Monsieur Linh’s Favorite,’ as part of the ‘Monologues.’

“Can art save the world? Or is the desire of artists to leave their mark through art utopian?” asks Krzysztof Warlikowski in his new performance, based on books by Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee.

“How can one disconnect the claim of diversity from a broader political stance?” questions Kornél Mundruczó in ‘Parallax,’ while Caroline Guiela Nguyen weaves a story about social oppression in ‘Lacrima,’ using the creation of a royal garment as a vehicle.

Speaking within the rich tradition of African culture, choreographer Serge Aimé Coulibaly from Burkina Faso discusses, from his perspective, the desire for revolt and the dismantling of the old world. Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué presents a revealing anatomy of governmental corruption, while Susanne Kennedy returns to the Festival and, together with visual artist Markus Selg, presents a post-humanist futuristic commentary on the relationship between humans and technology. In a similar spirit, Forced Entertainment and Tim Etchells celebrate their 40 years of unique presence on the international stage with a new work that outlines the entrapment of the modern human within an environment of artificial intelligence.

Themes of community and participation are highlighted in the Dance program, which opens with “À la carte” by international Greek choreographer Yiannis Mantafounis and the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. “Can we invent new dances in a celebration that unites us?” wonders Jenny Argyriou with her new choreography, while Argentine choreographer Ayelen Parolin, making her first appearance in Greece, orchestrates with humor the agonizing effort of people to come together in an ever-changing world. The everyday movement of a fearful society dominates in the performance of Elias Hatjigeorgiou, “Scared,” while Kat Válastur’s “Strong Born” converses with the myth of Iphigenia in a dynamic ritualistic performance inspired by the ancient heroine who holds a prominent place in this year’s program. Anastasia Valsamaki, with her dance performance “The Verso,” resists the classical frontal approach and creates moving landscapes, while Ermira Goro returns to Peiraios 260 with a solo inspired by the concept of the end, in a spine-tingling composition by four choreographers (Maria Hassabi, Hannes Langolf, Ioanna Paraskevopoulou, Ermira Goro).