ANCIENT THEATRE OF EPIDAURUS
Performance start time: 21:00
In 2025, the Athens Epidaurus Festival marks 70 years of uninterrupted contribution to culture—seventy thrilling years brimming with creativity, innovation, landmark performances, and invaluable collaborations. This important anniversary invites us to honour our legacy, celebrate the values that unite us, and envision the future ahead. A key partner in celebrating this milestone is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), serving as Lead Donor of the Festival’s Anniversary Programme in Epidaurus.
Through its generous support, the SNF affirms its steadfast commitment to the power of partnership, cultural dialogue, and the nurturing of creativity as essential forces for renewal and shared possibility—for audiences and artists alike.
WORLD PREMIERE – CO-PRODUCTION
June 27, 28, & 29
Athens Epidaurus Festival—National Theatre of Greece
Ulrich Rasche
Antigone
by Sophocles
In recent years, Epidaurus has forged a distinct artistic identity through a series of world premieres, achieved either through co-productions with leading international institutions (Schaubühne, Schauspielhaus Bochum, and Residenztheater), by hosting acclaimed international theatre companies (such as the Comédie-Française under Tiago Rodrigues) or by commissioning prominent European directors to stage classic works of Ancient Drama, such as Frank Castorf’s Medea in 2023 and Timofey Kulyabin’s Iphigenia in Aulis in 2024, both of which featured Greek actors. This year, Ulrich Rasche returns to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus following his striking 2022 presentation of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon in a co-production with Munich’s Residenztheater. This time, he will helm direction for Sophocles’ Antigone, collaborating with a stellar cast of Greek actors. A co-production between the Athens Epidaurus Festival and the National Theatre of Greece, the performance will be presented in Epidaurus for just three nights only.
For those who witnessed Agamemnon, the ecstatic energy of the performers as they moved ceaselessly atop a vast motorised revolving stage, accompanied by live music, remains indelible. Now, Rasche takes his radical stage language even further, using the unrivalled translation of N. Panagiotopoulos to bring the timeless figure of Antigone to life. The performance will inaugurate the Festival’s programme on the final weekend of June and is poised to leave the most profound artistic imprint on the anniversary year of 2025.
Language: Greek (with Greek and English surtitles)
July 4 & 5
PREMIERE
Poreia Theatre—Dimitri Tarlow
Electra
by Sophocles
What does it mean “to restore justice”? Can one live in the aftermath of violence? Is violence inevitable? Will revenge bring closure to the cycle of bloodshed? Is redemption ever truly possible? And, ultimately, what is the meaning of resistance when all seems lost?
Poreia Theatre returns to Epidaurus, with Artistic Director Dimitris Tarlow making his directorial debut at the Argolic theatre with Sophocles’ Electra. In a world plagued by totalitarianism and social injustice and an era where violence and revenge are often portrayed as “necessary evil,” Sophocles’ Electra takes on an eerie relevance. Far from being merely a tale of vengeance, this tragedy becomes a mirror that reflects humanity’s moral dilemmas and, foremost, the eternal conflict between justice and ethics.
Electra, a member of the accursed family of Atreides and a woman entangled in this cycle of blood and horror, is more than a tragic figure—she is someone personifying the dilemma between the pursuit of justice and the moral imperative to renounce violence. She is not just a tragic pawn of fate but a creation of her own volition, one wholeheartedly invested in the cause of justice. One then may wonder: Is she a victim of her obsession with revenge or a voice of resistance against the brutality of power? And why, when the palace is freed from its tyrants, does she refuse to enter? Is it because she chooses to refrain from the House she despises so much, or does she reject the very system she fought so vehemently against? Is she still a captive of the extreme emotions that defined her, such as the grief for her father’s loss, the hatred towards her mother, and the longing for her lost brother? One thing is certain: her passion does not quiet down, not even after the much-sought catharsis is accomplished.
In Electra, the poet does not cater to answers. Gods are away. Oracles coincide with human decisions by chance. Conscience falls by the wayside. The Furies are nowhere to be seen. Yet, the burden borne by all survivors is unbearable. It is this cost of choice, this unyielding human need for catharsis at any price, that Sophocles’ Electra urges us to contemplate. After all, Sophocles will not grace us with a sequel, nor will he complete a trilogy. His work shall stop here, as every single one of the doubts and questions he once posed will find their resolution within these 1,510 verses of astounding symmetry and economy.
Language: Greek (with Greek and English surtitles)
PREMIERE
July 11 & 12
National Theatre of Northern Greece—Cyprus Theatre Organisation
Michail Marmarinos
ζ – η – θ
The stranger
A return to the sources: a visit to three Odyssey rhapsodies
“Alcinous, majesty, shining among your island people,
what a fine thing it is to listen to such a bard
as we have here—the man sings like a god.
The crown of life, I’d say. There’s nothing better
than when deep joy holds sway throughout the realm
and banqueters up and down the palace sit in ranks,
enthralled to hear the bard, and before them all, the tables
heaped with bread and meats, and drawing wine from a mixing bowl
the steward makes his rounds and keeps the winecups flowing.
This, to my mind, is the best that life can offer.
(Rhapsody ι’ 2-11, translated by Robert Fagles)
In the afterglow of two performances that were destined to linger in memory, NEKYIA—presented with the Japanese theatre troupe NOH in 2015—and Sophocles’ Trackers in 2021, Michail Marmarinos revisits the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus with another riveting dramaturgical proposal, this time in collaboration with the National Theatre of Northern Greece and the Cyprus Theatre Organisation. In this new work, he orchestrates a return to the sources through a journey to three rhapsodies of the Homeric epic, confirming once more that the boundless mystery of oral Storytelling (the cavernous mystery of Theatre itself) continues to thrillingly propel us “to where history still happens”.
* The additional excerpts of Iliad used in the performance’s dramaturgy are translated by D.N. Maronitis, Agra Publications, 2012.
Language: Greek (with Greek and English surtitles)
CLASSICAL MUSIC CYCLE
July 19
Utopia—Teodor Currentzis
Gustav Mahler
Songs on the Death of Children (Kindertotenlieder)
Symphony No. 4
Each concert announcement by Teodor Currentzis stirs high expectations and waves of anticipation as the charismatic conductor’s performances guarantee profound artistic experiences for the audiences of music lovers worldwide. Indeed, those who filled the Odeon Herodes of Atticus in the summer of 2023 for Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony, conducted by Teodor Currentzis and performed by Utopia, witnessed a concert that remains indelibly etched in their memory. After all, this is not the first time that the profuse musical personality of Currentzis has engaged with the emblematic Austrian composer and “fellow” conductor. However, this evening will involve something unprecedented. Where else could one have the unique opportunity to attest to the grandeur of the Mahlerian oeuvre—one that challenges the listener’s intellectual and emotional cosmos through its existential reflections and metaphysical agonies—while immersed in that particular emotional atmosphere that the otherworldly landscape of Epidaurus evokes? Moreover, when the musicians in the theatre’s cavea are guided by the baton of Currentzis, this can only guarantee a thrilling result—truly “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude,” as Aristotle himself epitomised.
In a unique concert at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, the multi-awarded Greek conductor will lead Utopia, the independent orchestra he founded in 2022, in Mahler’s Songs on the Death of Children (Kindertotenlieder) and Symphony No. 4.
The evening’s first part features the heart-wrenching song cycle Songs on the Death of Children (Kindertotenlieder), which Mahler first presented in 1905, based on five poems by Friedrich Rückert. Performed by mezzo-soprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux, it is a work dominated by the ineffable grief for loss and absence—one could say eerily foreshadowing the tragedy that would strike Mahler himself a few years later with the death of his first daughter. It is only in the final music measures that the audience shall attain consolation; as the notes fade, the listeners may lift their gaze from the tiers of the ancient theatre toward the summer sky of Argolis and embrace a warm wave of relief.
The concert progresses with the last of Mahler’s so-called Wunderhorn symphonies, completed in 1900. Following a rather restless and enigmatic first movement, the second movement, with Death leading the dance with his violin, turns decisively macabre in tone. The third movement, majestic and prayer-like, soars with universal emotion. It is the finale, however, that bequeaths the grandest surprise of all: a plain nursery rhyme becomes the vessel that sails us to the company of angels. “No music on earth can ever compare with ours,” sings the remarkable Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann, her pure timbre once again guiding our gaze to the heavens.
Thanasis Apostolopoulos
Teodor Currentzis conductor
Eve-Maud Hubeaux mezzo-soprano
Regula Mühlemann soprano
Greek surtitles
Amalia Papadopoulou-Symeonidou (Songs on the Death of Children)
Nikolaos Poriotis (“Heavenly Life,” song from Symphony No.4, IV)
English surtitles
Richard Stokes (Songs on the Death of Children / “Heavenly Life”, song from Symphony No.4, IV)
We extend our gratitude to the Athens State Orchestra and Amalia Papadopoulou-Symeonidou for granting permission to use the Greek translation of the Songs on the Death of Children (Kindertotenlieder) lyrics.
Extracts from The Book of Lieder. English translation © Richard Stokes, 2005. Reused by permission of Faber and Faber Ltd.
Lead Donor of the Epidaurus Anniversary Programme
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
PREMIERE
July 25 & 26
Athens Epidaurus Festival—Lykofos Cultural Organisation
Yannis Houvardas
Oedipus
The story of a transformation: from darkness to light
Celebrating fifty years of unwavering theatrical presence, Yannis Houvardas translates, adapts, and directs Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus into a unified work on stage. Under the guidance of the seasoned Greek director, an ensemble of distinguished actors and contributors will recount, with the accompaniment of live music, the shattering story of Oedipus—starting from the end and moving backwards to the birth of his tragic fate.
Now blind and in the twilight of his years, Oedipus, together with his close relatives, arrives at ancient Colonus—a place of mystery scattered with sacred burial monuments. There, through divine intervention, they will access the sacred secrets and finally learn the reasons they have undergone such tormented lives. Throughout this transition, the characters, alongside Oedipus, relive the devastating events of “Rex” and witness the hero’s final elevation and ascension to the heavens as they once again approach the divine spirit, as detailed in Oedipus at Colonus.
Houvardas’ vision is to present these two works—profoundly different in conception and tone while written decades apart—as a single and seamless narrative. His approach honours the essence of Sophocles, the greatest of the tragic poets, while ensuring that each play remains distinctly recognisable within the performance.
Language: Greek (with Greek and English surtitles)
Lead Donor of the Epidaurus Anniversary Programme
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
WORLD PREMIERE – CO-PRODUCTION
CONTEMPORARY ANCIENTS CYCLE
August 1 & 2
Athens Epidaurus Festival—La Colline – théâtre national
Wajdi Mouawad
Europa’s pledge / Le Serment d’Europe
Lebanese-Canadian author, director, and actor Wajdi Mouawad—Artistic Director of La Colline – théâtre national in recent years—became known to the Greek audience primarily for his screenplay for the Oscar-nominated foreign-language film Incendies (directed by Dennis Villeneuve in 2010), based on his titular theatrical play. This ominous travelogue of Lebanon, which unfolds through a traumatic family story amid a country caught up in the maelstrom of civil war, shares a profound affinity with ancient tragedy, Mouawad’s principal source of inspiration: the schism at the heart of family, the struggle between genders, uprooting, the dire reality bequeathed from the previous generation to the next, and the search for catharsis are themes that resurface in his plays, many of which are directly informed by Ancient Drama heroes/heroines. Politically charged and in direct dialogue with contemporary history, Mouawad’s theatrical work touches upon Myth in the same breath, seeking to illuminate the archetypal dimensions of the human condition regardless of place and time. At the same time, it delves into the search for identity beyond racial, religious, and familial boundaries, while his bold lyrical language lends the characters a distinctly contemporary sensibility, as we witnessed in his most recent play, Birds of a Kind, presented last year at the National Theatre.
Mouawad first appeared at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in 2011 with the international co-production Des Femmes, a modular adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone, Electra, and Women of Trachis that featured a French-Canadian troupe.
As one of the most compelling dramaturgs worldwide, he returns to the Festival this year as a newcomer to Epidaurus with a new work inspired by the heroines of Ancient Drama. Commissioned as part of the Contemporary Ancients Cycle, the performance will be presented on the first weekend of August by a multinational cast in a multilingual format—an international co-production set to become a highlight of the summer.
August 8 & 9
Maria Protopappa
Andromache
By Euripides
We are transported far from the great city-states, deep into the Greek countryside: to Thessaly, Phthiotis, and, finally, Thetideion—to the house of Neoptolemus, Achilles’ son. The fierce, ruthless, and irreverent hero of the Iliad, the one who cemented the victory of the Greeks at Troy, now proves incapable of fulfilling his roles as a father, husband, and leader. He flees in search of a cure at Apollo’s oracle in Delphi. His war-fuelled frenzy has tainted his marital bed, his house, and his city. Before the eyes of the woman he irreparably wronged, he will receive the retribution known as “the punishment of Neoptolemus.” The country, the province, now decimated, is represented by a grotesque Chorus of women—abandoned, fearful, resigned, and bewildered.
In an inversion of the heroic Iliad, Euripides in Andromache lays bare the arrogance of the Greeks and the illusion of their cultural superiority. The pre-war promises of a united and mighty nation are dispelled amid a landscape ripe with decay, ageing, fear, and envy. The burden of responsibility falls not only on the architects of destruction but also on those who placed their beliefs in them and played a part in the collapse of values through their complacency. It is the next generation that must pay the price.
With Greek and English surtitles.
RERUN
August 22 & 23
Duration 200′
National Theatre of Greece—Theodoros Terzopoulos
Oresteia
By Aeschylus
Aeschylus’ iconic trilogy, Oresteia, directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos—in the first collaboration of the internationally celebrated director and teacher with the National Theatre—stands as one of the most remarkable achievements in recent Greek theatre history. Following its triumphant tour at select locations, this landmark performance returns to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus on August 22 & 23, drawing the curtain for this year’s Epidaurus cycle.
In the hands of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Oresteia becomes a performance of profound intellectual and philosophical depth that, through its astonishing energy, broadens the boundaries of art and, ultimately, recounts the history of humanity itself. Both a political gesture and a multidimensional spiritual experience, the play was enthusiastically embraced by the thousands of spectators who witnessed it, as well as by national and international media.
Following its premiere at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus in 2024, its tour across Greece and Cyprus, and its presentation in Vicenza, Italy, where it inaugurated the 77th Ciclo di Spettacoli Classici at the historical Teatro Olimpico, this unique performance returns to the place where it commenced its fascinating journey to offer all of us the opportunity to relive it one more time.
