Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles: August 23 at the 9th Andros International Festival
THEATER
Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles
Open Theater of Chora
Wednesday, August 13, 2023 at 21:00
Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles’ emblematic tragedy Oedipus at Colonus is performed this summer at Andros Open-Air Theatre. The play stars Dimitris Katalifos, who is accompanied by talented actors Christos Chatzipanagiotis, Angeliki Papathemeli, Alexandra Aidini, Maximos Moumouris, Christos Sapountzis and Giorgos Nousis, under Giorgos Skevas’ direction.
The play
Oedipus at Colonus is Sophocles’ last play, performed for the first time five years after the playwright’s death. The play describes the end of Oedipus, former king of Thebes.
Old Oedipus, who is now blind and exiled, arrives at the Athenian village of Colonus, led by his daughter Antigone. He sits on a rock in the sacred grove of Eumenides, but a villager asks him to leave because that ground is holy. Oedipus refuses because, according to the oracle he has received, this will be the place of his eternal rest.
The dweller asks the village elders to decide on Oedipus’ situation. They sympathise with the old man, but when they discover his identity they are horrified and order him to leave their land immediately. Oedipus invokes Athenian hospitality and asks to see Theseus, king of Athens, because he bears a great gift for him. In the meantime, Ismene, Oedipus’ other daughter, arrives unexpectedly bringing the news from Thebes: Oedipus’ sons, Eteocles and Polynices, are on the verge of a civil war, each claiming authority and the throne of Thebes. Moreover, a new oracle states that whoever has Oedipus on his side, whether alive or dead, they will be the one to win the war. When Theseus arrives, Oedipus pleads with him for protection for as long as he is alive, and asks to be buried on the ground of Athens at the time of his death. Valuing Oedipus, Theseus pledges to honour both his requests and assures him that he is safe.
Creon storms in the scene, announcing that he has arrived on behalf of all Theban dwellers in order to convince Oedipus to return to his homeland, Thebes. When Creon realises that his words don’t persuade Oedipus, but infuriate him instead, he resorts to violence to achieve his aim…
Director’s note
The angelic and black light, written in the last part of poet Giorgos Seferis’ work Kihli, is the light that blind Oedipus “sees”. It is Oedipus’ devastation and vindication at once, his unresolved passage to another space, the invisible stones of Eumenides forest which will welcome and swallow him. The performance brings to the forefront the ambiguous suspense of a fate-stricken hero’s end. How can this tension between right and wrong, between acceptance and rejection of fate, be depicted on stage? Sophocles’ words – the words uttered by his heroes Oedipus, Theseus, Antigone, Ismene, Polynices and Creon – do not accept any conclusive separation of right from wrong or sacred from blasphemous. These words become an eternal place, an eternal oracle, through the music of the bodies. It is these words and their deep poetic oracle power that the performance seeks to set free.
Giorgos Skevas
Translation: Chryssa Prokopaki, Thanos Tsaknakis
Direction: Giorgos Skevas
Dramaturgy: Giorgos Skevas, Chryssa Prokopaki
Set – Costume: Lili Pezanou
Music: Simi Tsilali
Lighting: Lefteris Pavlopoulos
Movement: Damiano Ottavio Bigi
Photography: Patroklos Skafidas
Trailer: Michael Mavromoustakos
Social Media: Renegade
Legal advisor: Filio Kastranta
Assistant to the director: Giannis Savouidakis
Assistant to the costume designer: Charis Souliotis
Production assistants: Vangelis Vogiatzis, Ksenia Kalantzi
Executive producer: Katerina Berdeka
Producer: Giorgos Likiardopoulos
Cast: Dimitris Katalifos, Christos Chatzipanagiotis, Angeliki Papathemeli, Alexandra Aidini, Maximos Moumouris, Christos Sapountzis, Giorgos Nousis among a cast of 14 actors
Produced by Lykofos cultural organisation in co-production with Athens Epidaurus Festival
TICKET PRICES:
GENERAL ADMISSION: €20
DISCOUNTED ADMISSION (UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, UNEMPLOYED, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES): €17
TICKET PRE-SALE: www.ticketservices.gr
