Summer Theater: ATHENS AND EPIDAURUS FESTIVAL 2023

 

The Athens Epidaurus Festival is Greece’s leading cultural organisation and one of the oldest continuously running festivals in Europe. Spanning 68 years, the Festival has welcomed some of the greatest music, dance, and theatre artists of the international and local scene, in collaboration with the most prestigious Greek and international organisations, attracting large audiences from around the world.
Up until 2005, the Festival had been held exclusively at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. 

• In the summer of 2006, five brand-new theatre stages were launched at the Peiraios 260 industrial venue which has since emerged as an important springboard for contemporary art. 
• Artistic productions and site-specific performances are also presented at other venues in Attica and various locations as part of the Festival.

Theatre director Katerina Evangelatos was appointed Artistic Director in September 2019. Expanding the Festival’s international character and supporting research in the field of performing arts towards audience development have been the two main goals of the current Artistic Director. 

• Novel research initiatives are designed with an international outreach in mind, targeted both at specialists and the public at large in both Greece and abroad. 
• At the same time, artistic creation in theatre, performance, music, dance, visual arts, playwriting, and publishing is actively encouraged, the goal being not only to present works by talented local artists in Greece but also to promote them abroad.

Seeking unconventional, alternative ways of showcasing the Festival venues is a key aspect of the Festival’s new philosophy. 

• Along those lines, the Festival artistic events will from now on also be held during the winter, expanding the summer programme.

 The Odeon of Herodes Atticus during the Athens & Epidaurus Festival. Photo: Athens Festival/Stefanos

ATHENS AND EPIDAURUS FESTIVAL 2023

Where: Various venues around Athens & Epidaurus

When: On now to 11 October 2023

Why Go: The ultimate line up of music, theatre & dance

The Athens and Epidaurus Festival is the city’s annual arts festival and a highlight of the Greek summer calendar. With a legacy that spans more than sixty years, today it incorporates a full programme of music, theatre, dance and visual arts. Performances at the two ancient theatres of the Odeon Herodes Atticus and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus are highlights of the festival. Both are famous for their exemplary acoustics and many of the great works of classical playwrights, such as Sophocles, premiered at the Epidaurus Theatre in ancient times.

Madama Butterfly at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. Photo: Stefanos/GNO

The 2023 festival reopens to live audiences, with performances by international musicians at the landmark stage of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus beneath the Acropolis, including Sigur Rós, Nils Frahm and John Cale.

Audiences can also expect performances by the Greek National Opera, including Giacomo Puccini’s, Madama Butterfly and Giuseppe Verdi’s, Nabucco. Greek singer and songwriter Yiannis Aggelakas will also perform from his latest album.

Avant-garde stage director Philippe Quesne will close the programme at the Odeon on the 4th August with ‘The Garden of Delights’, his latest theatre production inspired by the famous painting by Dutch painter Jérôme Bosch.

At the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, eight productions will be performed two days a week from July to August, by ancient Greek playwrights Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes. This year, the Festival invites German theatre director Frank Castorf to Epidaurus for the first time to direct Euripides’ Medea. The innovative director, will use improvisation and his highly imaginative theatrical language to create a modern Greek adaptation of this ancient tragedy.

ODEON OF HERODES ATTICUS

The spectacular open-air theatre of Odeon Herodes Atticus provides a magical setting at the base of the Acropolis. It has hosted legendary performances by Frank Sinatra, Maria Callas and Luciano Pavarotti to name a few.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus during the Athens & Epidaurus Festival. Photo: Athens Festival/T.Daskalakis

If you’re lucky enough to be visiting Athens during the Festival, be sure to attend at least one performance at any of these ancient theatres for a truly unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience.

JULY 2023

1 July | Soundtracks by Alexandre Desplat – ERT National Symphony Orchestra – Tickets available here

3 July | Yiannis Aggelakas & the 100 Degrees – Tickets available here

4 July | Stavros Xarchakos Live with Maria Farantouri, Yiannis Kotsiras and Iro Saia – Tickets available here

5 July | Anouar Brahem Quartet – Jazz Music – Tickets available here

8 July | José James Live – Tickets available here

10 July | James Live – with Classical Orchestra and Gospel Choir – Tickets available here

11 July | Herbie Hancock Live – Tickets available here

12 July | Melody Gardot Live – Tickets available here

15 July | Works by Tchaikovsky and Grieg – Athens State Orchestra – Tickets available here

16 July | Kraftwerk Live – Tickets available here

17 July | Gilbert Gil & Family Live – Tickets available here

26, 27, 29 & 30 July | Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi – Greek National Opera – Tickets available here

4 August | Philippe Quesne – The Garden of Delights – Theatre – Tickets available here

28 & 30 August | Norma by Vincenzo Bellini – Tickets available here

The Guardian

‘I thought people would throw bottles’: orgy in Athens as ancient Greek drama strips off and lets rip

Naked choruses, sexual fantasies, rubbish tip wastelands and nods to refugee camps … Athens' Epidaurus festival is thrilling audiences – and thrusting...

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18 mins ago 

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