“Epidaurus means Festival. And Epidaurus means Ancient Drama,” said Katerina Evangelatos, Artistic Director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival—Greece’s foremost cultural institution—during a press presentation on Wednesday, February 19.
Kicking off its celebratory 70th anniversary on June 27, the Festival will open with the world premiere of Sophocles’ Antigone, an international production by renowned German director Ulrich Rasche. The Festival is also proud to host Academy Award-winning actress Juliette Binoche in another of its international co-productions.
Despite the Festival’s deep connection to ancient Greek drama, Evangelatos emphasized that, for its 70th-anniversary edition, the goal is to produce theatrical events that engage today’s audiences and expand their perspectives on both the world and art.
Katerina Evangelatos, Artistic Director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival (ΣΩΤΗΡΗΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ/EUROKINISSI)
“Our enduring mission is to create a bridge that connects the legacy of Ancient Drama with today’s performing arts and dramaturgical explorations, rather than investing our efforts in reconstructing or portraying—almost in a museological manner—how these works or performances were allegedly staged in the past,” Evangelatos explained.
Rooted in the belief that a cultural institution with a 70-year history must remain forward-looking, Evangelatos announced today the eight international and national performances set to take place at the iconic Epidaurus Ancient Theatre (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and the historic Little Theatre of Epidaurus. Meanwhile, more than 90 international and domestic productions—spanning theater, dance, music, film screenings, discussions, visual art installations, and video art—are scheduled for this summer, with full details to be announced in April.
“This year, we are staging remarkable productions and co-productions, bringing to the audience of Epidaurus some of the finest Greek and international artists from the fields of theater and classical music—art forms that the Festival has championed throughout its 70 years of leading presence in the cultural life of our country,” Evangelatos stated.
Here’s a first look at the performances written and adapted exclusively for the unique setting of the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus:
June 27-29 – Antigone (by Sophocles)
Ulrich_Rasche@Tobias_Kruse
Acclaimed German director Ulrich Rasche returns to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus after his 2022 staging of Agamemnon, this time directing Sophocles’ timeless tragedy Antigone in a translation by Nikos Panagiotopoulos. Featuring a distinguished Greek cast, this powerful co-production between the National Theatre of Greece and Munich’s Residenztheater has been selected to inaugurate the Festival’s 70th-anniversary celebrations.
July 4-5 – Electra (by Sophocles)
Poreia Theater returns to Epidaurus with its Artistic Director, Dimitris Tarlow, making his directorial debut at the historic venue with Sophocles’ Electra. In a world plagued by totalitarianism and social injustice—an era where violence and revenge are often framed as a “necessary evil”—Electra takes on chilling contemporary relevance.
July 11-12 – ζ – η – θ The Stranger
A return to the sources: A journey through three Odyssey rhapsodies
Greek director Michail Marmarinos explores the origins of epic storytelling with a journey through three rhapsodies from Homer’s Odyssey. This co-production between the National Theatre of Northern Greece and the Cyprus Theatre Organisation invites audiences to rediscover the endless mystery of oral storytelling (the mystery of theater itself).
July 19 – Utopia
©Olya-Runyova
Multi-award-winning Greek conductor and musician Teodor Currentzis leads Utopia, the independent orchestra he founded in 2022, in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, one of the Austrian composer’s most celebrated works. Acclaimed Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann, one of the finest talents of her generation, will perform the symphony’s transcendent fourth movement.
The second part of the evening will feature mezzo-soprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux performing Mahler’s haunting Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children), composed between 1901 and 1904 as a deeply moving orchestral song cycle based on five poems by Friedrich Rückert.
July 25-26 – Oedipus at Colonus (by Sophocles)
Marking 50 years of unwavering theatrical artistry, renowned Greek director Yannis Houvardas translates, adapts, and directs Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus into a singular stage work. Featuring an ensemble of distinguished Greek actors, this production unfolds Oedipus’ tragic fate in reverse—starting from his final moments and tracing back to the origins of his doomed destiny.
August 1-2 – Europa’s Pledge (by Wajdi Mouawad)
Wajdi-Mouawad©Patrick-Imbert_College-de-France
A co-production between the Athens Epidaurus Festival and France’s Théâtre National de la Colline, Europa’s Pledge is directed by Lebanese-Canadian playwright, director, and actor Wajdi Mouawad. Known for his deeply personal and politically charged storytelling, Mouawad presents an ominous travelogue of Lebanon through the lens of a traumatic family history.
Themes of familial schism, gender struggle, displacement, and the search for catharsis—central to Mouawad’s body of work—create a profound connection with ancient tragedy. Featuring an international cast, including Academy Award-winning actress Juliette Binoche, this multilingual performance is poised to be a summer highlight.
August 8-9 – Andromache (by Euripides)
Reversing the heroic narratives of The Iliad, Euripides’ Andromache exposes the arrogance of the victorious Greeks and the disillusionment of their so-called cultural superiority. The promises of a united and mighty nation dissolve into a landscape of decay, aging, fear, and envy. Greek director Maria Protopappa helms this stark and thought-provoking production, also taking on a leading role alongside a Greek cast.
Maria Protopappa
August 22-23 – Oresteia (by Aeschylus)
Following its triumphant tour, this landmark production of Oresteia returns to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus to close this year’s Festival cycle. Directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos, the performance delves into the trilogy’s intellectual and philosophical depths, its astonishing energy pushing the boundaries of theatrical expression while recounting the history of humanity itself.
Theodros Terzopoulos “Oresteia”, National Theater of Greece , @Γιοχάνα-Βέμπερ
Little Theatre of Epidaurus
As part of the Contemporary Ancients cycle, the Festival provides a platform for innovative approaches to ancient tragedy, presented at the Little Theatre of Epidaurus.
July 4-5 – Thēbae Desertae (by Olia Lazaridou)
Inspired by Sophocles’ Antigone, this performance is intrinsically linked to the Festival’s main production of Antigone, directed by Ulrich Rasche. Lazaridou’s work offers a poetic exploration of loss, exile, and the solitude of Thebes.
July 11-12 – Cries (by Christos Stergioglou & Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis)
This powerful production explores themes of slavery, displacement, and migration across time. Inspired by Giorgos Seferis’ The Last Stop and the wailing of Hecuba in The Trojan Women, Cries intertwines poetry, ancient drama, melody (melos), and music in a deeply emotional and thought-provoking performance.
July 18 – Electra 7 (Film Screening)
©DESPINA_SPYROU
A unique “detective” film, Electra 7 is a medium-length production co-produced by the Epidaurus Festival and the Hellenic Film Academy. Inspired by Sophocles’ Electra, the film features a screenplay by Panos Christopoulos and showcases the directorial visions of seven different filmmakers.
©DESPINA_SPYROU
July 25 – On the Right Side of the Streambed / War Session
Two female monologues:
- On the Right Side of the Streambed by Giannis Palavos, inspired by Oedipus at Colonus
- War Session by Aris Alexandris, inspired by Aristophanes’ Lysistrata
Both works are directed by Giannis Skourletis and offer contemporary reimaginings of classical texts through intimate, female-driven narratives.
For further information on the Athens Epidaurus Festival please visit the official website.
