The “Was” by Aristophanes are returning to the National Theater’s repertoire sixty years after the performance of Alexis Solomosin a modern transcription from Lena Kitsopoulou who signs his free adaptation and direction.

In her first descent to Epidaurus, the heretical creator, surrounded by a great group of collaborators and actors, confronts a work that reflects on the pathologies of our democracy and the cracks of justice.

This is the second summer production of the National Theater, presented this year, at the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus on July 14 and 15.

In The Wasps, Aristophanes uses the vehicle of comedy to satirize, in his sharp way, a deeply political issue: the erosion of the judicial system, the cornerstone of popular sovereignty in ancient Athens.

On the one hand, a happy-go-lucky, two-faced old judge who lives to convict “guilty people” and on the other, his desperate son, a flimsy dole-out justice system, and an entire society of Wasps: cruel individuals with a sharp sting, an insatiable appetite for criticism and zero disposition for self-criticism.

A society trapped in the suffocating cocoon of discord and malice. A society that twists, spartans, unleashes blame and ends up feeding on its own poison.

In the current version, the direction turns its gaze to modern “stingers”, to the popular courts that are set up in television shows and social media. With caustic humor and mockery, he illuminates the systemic rot, the dormant defenses, the racism, the bigotry, the rigid political correctness of our time.

“…I condemn you on my show, on my mobile phone, in public, wherever I am and wherever I stand, and pay attention: whoever does not agree with me is a fascist, he is complicit with the guilty. I accuse, therefore I am something. I accuse therefore I exist…” notes the director who attempts to bring to life in front of us sometimes the mire that threatens us and sometimes that other, the ideal, that elevates us.

The translation is by Stelios Chronopoulos. The sets and costumes are designed by Magdaleni Avgerinou, the music by Nikos Kypourgos, the choreography by Amalia Bennett, the lighting by Nikos Vlasopoulos and the sound design by Kostas Lolos.

Playing: Dafni David, Alexandros Zouridakis, Konstantinos Kapellidis (electric bass), Nikos Karathanos, Lena Kitsopoulou, Yiannis Kotsifas, Nikos Kousoulis, Alexis Kotsopoulos (electric guitar, trombone), Nefeli Maistralis, Sotiris Manikas, Nikolas Maragopoulos, Ioanna Mavrea, Th anos Birkos , Dimitris Naziris, Panos Papadopoulos, Stefanos Pittas, Konstantinos Plemmenos, Marianna Purega, Thodoris Skyftoulis.

Musicians on stage: Marinos Galatsinos (wind instruments), Sofia Euklidou (cello), Evi Kanellou (percussion).

The show is recommended for viewers aged 15 and over.

Ticket sales: www.aefestival.gr / www.viva.gr