After the masterpiece “Three Sisters” (2018), which will be unforgettable due to the complete performance of Chekhov’s work in sign language, the pioneer Russian director Timofey Kulyabin returns to the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, which introduced him to the Greek audience. Kulyabin, internationally recognized for his poetic directorial vision, will open this year’s Epidauria, on July 5 and 6, with Euripides’ “Iphigenia en Avlidis”, in an international production of the Festival.

Referring to his choice to confront Iphigenia in Euripides’ Court, Kouliabin emphasizes: “When I was offered to direct in Epidaurus, I did not hesitate. Iphigenia is one of the most complex and at the same time fascinating texts of ancient drama.

The main condition of the play is war. We don’t see battles, but we smell the impending war.

Everything is ready: the troops, the weapons. It just needs a little push to get going. It will be interesting to see how this carries over to today.

In the play there is not the question of whether the war will take place, but when. For me, everything has to do with the technologies of war, politics, the media… Today, unfortunately, war is again present in our lives. Surprisingly – and despite historical experience – we humans do things we thought would never happen again».

Great Greek and Greek actresses make up the troupe, giving flesh and bones to this top artistic project. Starring (alphabetically): Anthi Efstratiadou (Iphigenia), Maria Naufliotou (Clytemnestra), Nikolas Papagiannis (Menelaus), Dimitris Papanikolaou (Presbytes), Thanos Tokakis (Achilles), Nikos Psarras (Agamemnon). Dance: Dimitris Georgiadis, Christos Diamantoudis, Marios Kritikopoulos, Alexandros Piehoviak.

As dramatist Roman Dolzhanskiy explains, the show will focus on the theme of war and sacrifice:

“In Iphigenia in Aulidis, an unthinkable sacrifice must be made to start the war. There is also a family story behind this sacrifice. And a family betrayal. A betrayal that amply proves that war is capable of destroying every human behavior, every value. The ancient tragedy highlights here how “naturally” an “unnatural” sacrifice can be imposed that the human mind cannot accommodate».

Having recently staged, in collaboration with the same dramatist, Euripides’ “Electra” at the Theater of Nations in Moscow, Timofey Kulyabin declares himself excited about his descent into Epidaurus, fully aware of the size and scale of the Argolic theater: “It is a unique space, with its own laws and its own energy”.

At the same time, he consciously rejects “museumism” in search of a fruitful conversation with Ancient Drama in modern terms: “I am always very careful in how I approach ancient tragedies.

Not because they are monuments, but because of their purity. The plot is absolute, dramatic, compact. The challenge is to connect it to our own experience.”

“Iphigenia in Avlidis” will have its world premiere in Epidaurus.

Designed exclusively for the Argolic theater, this long-awaited show creatively unites once again a foreign director with the Greek stage, further strengthening the international character of the Festival and the spirit of extroversion that has been consciously pursued in recent years” reads the Festival’s announcement Athens and Epidaurus.

Who is Timofey Kulyabin

One of the most distinguished Russian directors of his generation, Timofey Kulyabin comes to the Athens and Epidaurus Festival for the second time after 2018, when he presented Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” in sign language, in a performance that received rave reviews.

Born in 1984, Kulyabin studied at the prestigious Gitis Theater Academy in Moscow and is a distinct presence in contemporary world theatre, having successfully directed dozens of plays and operas.

He made his professional directorial debut aged just 22 in 2006 and has since staged productions in Russian and European theatres, including the Bolshoi Theater and the Theater of Nations in Moscow, the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, the Schauspielhaus in Zurich, the Residenztheater in Munich, etc. Artistic director of the Red Torch Theater in Novosibirsk from 2015 to 2022, he has stood out for his radical look at classic authors such as Chekhov, Ibsen, Gogol. His performances are regularly invited to international theater festivals, while with “Three Sisters” he won the Golden Mask, which is the National Theater Award of Russia.

Bold and innovative in art and life, he did not hesitate to publicly express his opposition to the war in Ukraine and to seek refuge in Europe, specifically in Berlin. Kulyabin has been described as the “terrible child” of the Russian theater. His directorial genius lies in his scenic daring, but also in the way he plays stylistically with different theatrical genres.

Speaking about art, he has, in a few words, given his own definition: “Art discovers human wounds. It makes you see things from a different angle and question what seems obvious. It completes how we see the world. Art doesn’t try to convince, it doesn’t teach. It just challenges you to discover new concepts.”

More information about the show will be given at the Athens Epidaurus Festival’s regular press conference for the announcement of the 2024 artistic program.