The Bacchus of Euripides, directed by Thanos Papakonstantinou, the tragedy of mysticism, ecstasy and brutality, after their warm reception at the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus and the Ancient Amphitheater of Curio in Limassol, continue their tour in August and September in Greece.

The next stops on the journey of the Bacchus are the “Irini Papa” theater in Chiliomodi, Corinth, the Old Olive Mill of Elefsina, the Forest Theater in Thessaloniki and the “Mikis Theodorakis” Open Air Theater in Chios, while in Attica, they will be at the Papagou Garden Theater, the Theater Vrachon “Melina Merkouri” and at the School of Athens – Irini Papa.

For the Bacchae

When the god Dionysus arrives in Thebes, King Pentheus refuses to see his first cousin as a God and forbids the spread of the new religion. His refusal raises the curse of the god who, in a tragic reversal of persecutor and persecuted, leads Pentheus to annihilation by his own mother.

Euripides writes the Bacchus – the tragedy of the Greeks, the rulers and the people, according to the great Polish theoretician and critic of the theater Jan Kot – in the third decade of the Peloponnesian War, when History has already calmed down. The great tragic poet composed it during the last year of his stay in Macedonia, where he came into contact with the Dionysian cult.

For the umpteenth time, bringing his fellow citizens face to face with the human attitudes that he cultivated throughout his life, Euripides composes a tragedy – one of the few that has the god Dionysus as its object – about the conflict between god and man, for human virtue and savagery, prudence and error, the sane and the horse. For Euripides, when man is seized by his animal instincts, when brutality awakens in him with rage, all social coexistence is annulled; even if it is the cornerstone of society, the mother-child relationship.

It is violence that means the end of the city-state of Athens. And as tragedy grapples with the essence of human identity – political or individual, with the end of the latter, Bacchus becomes – in many ways – a drama about the death of ancient tragedy itself.

Performance ID

Translation: Giorgos Heimonas

Directed by: Thanos Papakonstantinou

Dramatic Editing: Ioanna Remediaki

Sets – Costumes: Niki Psychogiou

Original Music: Dimitris Skyllas

Choreography: Nanti Gogoulou

Lighting Design: Christina Thanasoulas

Music teaching: Melina Paionidou – Dimitris Skyllas

Performance dramatist: Eri Kyrgia

Assistant Director: Fanis Sakellariou

Second Assistant Director: Pantelis Bakatselos

Assistant Stage Designer: Yiannis Setzas

B΄ Screenwriter’s Assistant: Zoi Kelesi

Assistant Costume Designer: Penelope Hansen

Second Costume Designer Assistant: Ernesta Hatjilemonidou

Lighting Assistant: Ifigenia Gianniou

Hair design: Konstantinos Koliousis

Makeup design: Olga Faleichyk

Penthea head construction: Roger Fischer

Actors play: Konstantinos Avarikiotis (Dionysos), Marianna Dimitriou (Tiresias), Alexia Kaltsikis (Agave), Themis Panou (Kadmos), Argyris Pantazaras (Pentheas), Yiannis Koravos, Dionysis Pifeas, Fotis Stratigos (Messengers)

Dance: Margarita Alexiadis, Stellina Vogiatzi, Chrysianna Karameri, Eleni Koutsioupa, Maria Constanta, Cleopatra Markou, Eleni Moleski, Irini Bundali, Georgina Palaiothodorou, Iokasti-Agawi Papanikolaou, Thalia Stamatelou, Danae Tikou

Musicians: Thodoris Vazakas, Maria Deli, Alexandros Ioannou, Yiannis Kaikis

Tour Schedule

  • THURSDAY 29-Aug | Theater “Irini Papa” | A thousandth
  • SUNDAY 1-Sep | Old Olive Mill | Elefsina *
  • FRIDAY 6-Sep | Forest Theater | Thessaloniki
  • WEDNESDAY 11-SEP | Open Theater “Mikis Theodorakis” | Chios
  • WEDNESDAY 18-SEP | Papagou Garden Theatre
  • FRIDAY 20-Sep | Theater of Rocks “Melina Merkouri” | Byron *
  • WEDNESDAY 25-SEP | School of Athens – Irini Papa *
  • THURSDAY 26-SEP | School of Athens – Irini Papa *
  • FRIDAY 27-Sep | School of Athens – Irini Papa *
  • SATURDAY 28-Sep | School of Athens – Irini Papa *
  • SUNDAY 29-Sep | School of Athens – Irini Papa *

Use of English subtitles at tour stops marked with an asterisk

Photos: Elina Yunanli

Video: Patroklos Skafidas

Thanks to Paschalis Zervas for the graphic editing of the promo photos

Start time: 21:00

Duration: 120 minutes

Information: www.nt.gr

The show contains scenes of nudity and violence. Suitable for over 15 years.