Trade with Greece
121
explore the scenic forms of Aristophanean come-
dy, with a constellation of outstanding comedians,
in a play that praises the benefits of peaceful co-
existence, mocking all warmongers.
In Peloponnesian War-ravaged Athens, Dikaiopolis
commits to the cause of peace. He launches nego-
tiations with Sparta and succeeds in persuading
the Acharnians, Marathon veterans and citizens of
the largest deme of Attica to concur. The market-
place opens and, owing to necessity, all kinds of
merchandise is put up for sale: geese, hares, even
maidens disguised as piglets.
Cast: Vassilis Haralambopoulos, Christos
Hadjipanayiotis, Fanis Mouratidis.
[ANCIENT THEATRE OF EPIDAURUS]
Michail Marmarinos
ΝΟH -
Nekyia
Greek director Michail Marmarinos meets Japan’s
Noh theatre and the great master Gensho
Umewaka, in a performance based on Book 11 of
Homer’s
Odyssey
.
An unexpected theatrical encounter between two
civilizations with deep roots in time: More than
2,500 years after Homer created
Odyssey
and
800 years after the Noh theatre was established,
the Athens Festival invites Michail Marmarinos to
stage
Nekyia
with a Japanese Noh theatre com-
pany, led by the great Gensho Umewaka. In Book
11 —also known as
Necromancy
or
Nekyia
—
Odysseus recounts how, driven by nostalgia for
his homeland and encouraged by Circe, he
attempted to descend to Hades in order to
receive an oracle from the seer Teiresias regard-
ing his return to Ithaca.
“The art of the Japanese theatre seems to be fun-
damentally necessary in, and capable, of giving
shape to the deeper meaning of the concepts con-
tained in
Nekyia
,” says the accomplished Greek
director. “It is one of the most ancient and most
thrilling visits by a man to the world of the dead to be
found in world literature. It appears that great Art
always has, in one way or another, something to do
with the ‘other’ side of Time. The Noh theatre is
among the world’s leading cultural achievements in
the field of metaphysical poetry. The deep tradition
and training of the actors gives them the right to
address the heart of the matter. With such a vocab-
ulary of physical philosophy, this is the first time in its
history that NOH theatre meets our own
Nekyia
.”
[ANCIENT THEATRE OF EPIDAURUS]
Vangelis Theodoropoulos
Ajax
by Sophocles
Heading up a select company of actors, Vangelis
Theodoropoulos stages the Greek premiere of
Sophocles’
Ajax
—translated from ancient Greek by
SHE SHE POP - Schubladen.
