The 70th Athens and Epidaurus Festival will be opened by Sophocles’ Antigone, directed by Ulrich Rasche in a co-production between the National Theatre of Greece and the Athens and Epidaurus Festival. The programme at Epidaurus will conclude with the NTG production of Aeschylus’ famed Oresteia trilogy, directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos.

 

In detail:
WORLD PREMIERE – CO-PRODUCTION

27, 28 & 29 June
Athens Epidaurus Festival – National Theatre of Greece

Ulrich Rasche
Antigone
by Sophocles

In recent years, Epidaurus has established a distinctive artistic identity thanks to world premieres presented either in collaboration with major international theatres (the Schaubühne, the Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Residenztheater), or by inviting leading international companies (such as the Comédie-Française with Tiago Rodrigues), or by engaging renowned European directors to collaborate with Greek actors on works of ancient drama, including Frank Castorf in 2023 (Medea) and Timofey Kulyabin in 2024 (Iphigenia in Aulis). Ulrich Rasche, who in 2022 delivered a thrilling version of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon co-produced with Munich’s Residenztheater, returns to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus this year with Sophocles’ Antigone, featuring a dazzling Greek cast. This co-production between the Athens Epidaurus Festival and the National Theatre of Greece will be performed at Epidaurus for three days.

Anyone who saw his Agamemnon will long remember the hypnotic intensity of the performers marching endlessly on the huge rotating stage with live music in the background. Expanding on his radical stage language, Rasche will draw on Nikos Panagiotopoulos’s unsurpassed translation to bring out the timeless essence of the character of Antigone.

The production will open the Epidaurus programme on the last weekend in June and is expected to make a lasting impression on the anniversary year of 2025.

 

Direction & Set design Ulrich Rasche • Dramaturg Antigone Akgün • Translation Nikos A. Panagiotopoulos • Music Alfred Brooks •  Costume design Angelos Mentis • Lighting design Eleftheria Deko • Chorus training and direction Yannik Stöbener • Music coach Melina Paionidou• Assistant director David Moser • Assistant set designer Lukas Kötz • Directing assistant Thomais Triantafyllidou • Set design assistant Evangelos Agatsas ^. Makeup design Olga Faleichyk ^. Hair design Konstantinos Koliousis
The cast Giorgos Gallos Creon, Dimitris Kapouranis Haemon, Kora Karvouni Antigone, Filareti Komninou Tiresias, Thanos Tokakis Guard • Chorus (in alphabetical order) Vassilis Boutsikos, Stratis Chatzistamatiou, Dimitris Kapouranis, Thanasis Raftopoulos, Gal Robissa, Giannis Tsoumarakis, Giorgos Ziakas, and three others

 

22 & 23 August
National Theatre of Greece - Theodoros Terzopoulos
The Oresteia
by Aeschylus
 

Aeschylus’ emblematic trilogy, The Oresteia, directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos, marked the first collaboration between the internationally acclaimed Greek director and teacher and the NTG, and was a milestone in the recent history of theatre in Greece. Following a triumphant run at various venues, the performance returns to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus on 22 & 23 August to complete this year's festival season at Epidaurus.

Terzopoulos’s Oresteia is a work of intellectual and philosophical depth, which, with electrifying energy, succeeds in pushing the boundaries of art and, ultimately, in telling the story of humanity itself. Both an unquestionably political act and a transcendent experience functioning on multiple levels, it met with a rapturous reception both from the thousands of spectators who saw it and from the Greek and international media.

After its premiere in Epidaurus in 2024, Agamemnon toured Greece and Cyprus, and was also performed in Vicenza, Italy, where it opened the 77th Classical Shows Season at the historic Teatro Olimpico. Now this extraordinary production returns to the place where its exhilarating journey began, offering us the opportunity to witness it once again. 

 

Translation Eleni Varopoulou • Direction & Adaptation Theodoros Terzopoulos • Associate director: Savvas Stroumpos • Set, costume & lighting design Theodoros Terzopoulos • Original music Panayiotis Velianitis • Dramaturgical adviser Maria Scicchitano • Production dramaturg Irene Moundraki • Directing assistant Theodora Patiti • Associate set designer Sokratis Papadopoulos • Associate costume designer Panagiota Kokkorou • Associate lighting designer Konstantinos Bethanis • Artistic associate Maria Vogiatzi • Video Nikos Pastras • Photographs Johanna Weber
The cast (in alphabetical order) Babis Alefantis (Pylades), Evelyn Assouad (Cassandra), Anna Marka Bonissel (Prophet), Nikos Dasis (Apollo), Tasos Dimas (Watchman/Leader of the chorus/Athenian citizen), Sophia Hill (Clytemnestra/Ghost of Clytemnestra), Ellie Iggliz (Nurse), David Malteze (Aegisthus), Dinos Papageorgiou (Herald), Aglaia Pappa (Athena), Myrto Rozaki (Electra), Savvas Stroumpos (Agamemnon), Alexandros Tountas (Servant), Konstantinos Zografos (Orestes) • Chorus Babis Alefantis, Katerina Amplianiti, Evelyn Assouad, Aspasia Batatoli, Anna Marka Bonissel, Nikos Dasis, Katerina Dimati, Natalia Georgosopoulou, Katerina Hill, Ellie Iggliz, Vasilina Katerini, Thanos Magklaras, Elpiniki Marapidi, Lygeri Mitropoulou, Rosy Monaki, Stavros Papadopoulos, Dinos Papageorgiou, Vangelis Papagiannopoulos, Michalis Psalidas, Myrto Rozaki, Yannis Sanidas, Pyrros Theofanopoulos, Alexandros Tountas, Christoforos Vogiatzis

Running time: 200 minutes

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 Tickets will go on sale in early April.

Latest updated: 28/05/2025