A great theatrical event will open this year Epidaurus – “Alkisti” by Euripides by Johan Simmons

June 24, 2022

Robert

One of the most bizarre works of Euripides, on the borderline between tragedy and comedy, “Alkisti” tells the story of a woman who sacrifices her life to save the life of her dying husband

A woman sacrifices her life.
Her husband escapes death.
An ecclesiastical organ accompanies them.

In Bochum, Germany, the rehearsals for Euripides’ Alcestis, under the direction of the renowned Dutch director Johan Simmons, current artistic director of the Schauspielhaus Bochum and one of the pioneers of the European theatrical avant-garde, are in the final stage before arriving in Greece. At present, their makeshift camp, which we look forward to seeing in a world first in Epidaurus, has been set up on the fifth floor of the Schauspielhaus Bochum. There is also the church instrument that plays live the music by Alkisti of Gluck, transcribed by the Belgian composer Steven Prengels.

Johan Simmons loves music and gives it a leading role. “The lyrics lead the thoughts, while the music leaves the emotions free to exist,” he says, while revealing that in the show, apart from Gluck, we will also hear a modern pop song. “For me, music is the highest art form. The music hovers between the sky and the earth “, he notes and adds specifically for Alkisti:” The existence of Music between the action gives the viewer free space, a breath to be able to make his personal thoughts and to roll in the emotions of”.

The rehearsal continues and Simmons gives the final instructions to his performers – four singers embodying the Dance and a group of great actors, half German and half Dutch. It mainly corrects their gaze: they should look up and not straight, as they would in a closed theater. All of them are looking forward to Epidaurus. For the unique experience of interpreting the Euripides Alkistis, which they have been studying for so long, in the place that suits her more than anyone else, in the enchanting ancient theater of Epidaurus.

There will be all the questions of the play, through the reading of Simmons: The role of the white male that must live. His fear of death and his egocentrism. The heroine Alkisti who is called to sacrifice herself for her husband Admitos. Her deafening silence. The role of love. The importance of loss. And then the children who are left behind. Children mourning for their mother. Children who mourn, but also a boy who grows up like his father and grandfather. Another white man.

As he says, he chose this text by Euripides because it is a “pure story, a fairy tale, without ambiguities”. He also had in his hands the “excellent” adaptation of the Canadian poet Anne Carson, which fascinated him and was influenced by the play by Susanne Winnacker. “Alkisti is a satirical drama,” comments Simmons. “What the spectators watched after the tragedies to feel a relief, an ascension.”

And all this in an empty space, where only the church organ dominates. The reason for the artistic proposal of the great set designer Johannes Schütz, which does not include interventions in the orchestra, but outside. How do they see the scene of Alkisti Simmons and Sitch? A camp will be set up outside the orchestra, a setting of a wandering troupe: some caravans, tents, plastic chairs, a hearse … The lyrics from the works will be projected on the trees. Lyrics in ancient Greek.

Says Simmons: “The group of actors, our group, will come to the ancient theater of Epidaurus for a while and then it will leave.” In this circular theater, which looks like a huge hug, the nomadic actors will become one with the audience, and then they will pull away.

As a nomadic whole, however, which has its own rules and codes, Simmons has thought of the world of Alkistis. “Not like a world of intellectuals. Not like a world that resembles modern western society. That’s why its codes can be unfamiliar. “A slap or a push may not be so reprehensible,” he explains.
In a few days all and all of the above will be transferred to Epidaurus. We are also looking forward to this great theatrical event that will open this year’s Epidaurus.

A few words about Johan Simmons:

Born in 1946 in the Netherlands, he studied dance at the Rotterdam Academy and acting at the Maastricht Academy of Theater. Johan Simmons is one of the founders of the iconic Theater Hollandia along with musician Paul Cook. Since its founding in 1985, Theater Hollandia has taken a radical approach to texts, focusing on the musical dimension of speech and aiming at the musicality of the play. It is also worth noting that Hollandia’s systematic involvement with ancient tragedy since 1989, and after working on Prometheus, has provided important stage suggestions, where music is combined with dance, visual expression and performance.

In 2001 Simmons became the artistic director of the theatrical organization ZT / Hollandia and in 2005 he took over the Belgian Publiekstheater, which he renamed NTGent, giving new artistic stimuli and directing, among others, classics by Aeschylus and Beckett, and screenplays by Christophilus and Christopher Wilder.

In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Ghent. From 2010 to 2015 Simmons was the artistic director of the award-winning Münchner Kammerspiele. In 2014 he received the German Theatrical Award Der Faust for his play The Death of Danton. In the same year he was also honored with the Berlin Theater Award, but also with the Prinz Bernhard Kulturfonds Preis, the Netherlands’s most important art award, for his overall contribution to theater at home and abroad.

From 2015 to 2017 Simmons was the artistic director of the Ruhrtriennale and returned to NTGent as artistic consultant, while from the 2018/2019 season he has taken over the artistic direction of the Schauspielhaus Bochum. In Greece, the public has met him at the Herodion with the Bacchae of Euripides (2002) and with Casimir and Carolina by Horvat (2009), co-directed with his collaborator Paul Koek, while it is the first time we will see him in Epidaurus. With him is a cast of renowned and younger international actors – German and Dutch – including EMMY’s first male role Pierre Bocma.

The play:

One of the most bizarre works of Euripides, on the borderline between tragedy and comedy, Alkisti tells the story of a woman who sacrifices her life to save the life of her dying husband. Mourning, negotiations, disagreements. Who is not afraid to die? Who is more entitled to live? Finally, Hercules goes down to Hades to bring back Alkistis, only now the heroine is a stranger to her family.