On 17 and 18 July, as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, the National Theatre of Greece presents Euripides’ Alcestis, directed by Dimitris Karantzas, at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. A contemporary parable with strong political connotations. A dual-natured work that walks a constant tightrope between life and death, playfulness and nightmarishness, overwhelming tragedy and unexpected comedy.

Admetus will be spared death only if he can find someone to give up their life on his behalf. His wife, Alcestis, offers to take his place. Her sacrifice unfolds in the public sphere, before the eyes of the citizens, as a preordained murder – an act that is today unavoidably read as femicide, legitimised by the structures of social and political power.

Euripides’ ruthlessly ironic masterpiece Alcestis is the only surviving ancient tragedy to feature not only Thanatos, the personification of death, but also a return to life. However, what does this resurrection mean when the sacrifice has already been made? What does Alcestis’ deafening silence signify? And what is the true price of salvation?

Dimitris Karantzas directs Alcestis as an experiment in dramatic form, in which music, sound, movement, and a daring stylistic balancing act are organically intertwined, creating a world that is fluid, liminal, and constantly changing. The stage becomes, by turns, a dark psychic landscape where everything is on the verge of collapse, a site of execution for Alcestis, and ultimately a resonant chamber of mourning.

With a superb cast and creative team, the production transforms the unruly splendour of ancient tragedy into a forceful theatrical statement that does not simply relate the myth, but raises timely questions about authority, gender, sacrifice, and the responsibility that society bears for the death of the titular – and fully-fledged – heroine.