The 15th International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama is in full swing in Cyprus, with participants from Greece, Belgium, England, China and the host county. The festival kicked off on July 1st, at the Kourion Ancient Theatre in Limassol with Euripides’ Cyclops, presented by Amphiktio Theatre, a Cypriot theatre company. It will continue for the whole duration of the month, with a varied progamme, including ancient Greek drama by Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides, and will culminate with the Dionysus Feast, presented by the National Theatre Of Northern Greece at the Kourion Ancient Theatre, Saturday, July 30, 2011.
The festival has programmes at different locations: Paphos Ancient Odeon in Paphos, Kourion Ancient Theatre in Limassol (featured above), and the Makarios III Amphitheater in Nicosia.
Organized by the Cyprus Centre of the International Theatre Institute, the festival began in 1996, and it soon became one of the most popular cultural manifestations of the Summer in Cyprus. In the past, the festival hosted participants from Greece, Britain, USA, Germany, Russia, Romania, Sweden, Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, Austria, Korea, Slovenia, and China.
In addition to Euripides’ Cyclops, already presented by Amphiktio Theatre, and The Trackers by Sophocles, presented by the Cultural Society Anagnosis, the programme this year also includes:
Oedipus Rex, presented by the Zhejiang Beijing Opera Company, as follows: Mon. 11 July at Kourion Ancient Theatre Limassol, Tue. 12 July at Makarios III Amphitheatre Nicosia, and Wed. 13 July, Paphos Ancient Odeon.
Prometheus Bound, presented by the José Besprosvany Company from Belgium, on Mon. 18 July, Makarios III Amphitheatre Nicosia and Tue. 19 July, Kourion Ancient Theatre Limassol.
The Buzz Productions Theater from Cyprus will stage Medea on Thur. 21 July, Paphos Ancient Odeon
and Wed. 27 July, Makarios III Amphitheatre Nicosia. The programme will continue with another performance of Prometheus Bound, this time by ATTIS theatre from Greece, Thur. 21 July, Makarios III Amphitheatre Nicosia and Fri 22 July, Kourion Ancient Theatre Limassol. From the United Kingdom will travel Antigone, produced by the Theatre Lab Company and directed by Anastasia Revi, on Sun. 24 July, Paphos Ancient Odeon, Mon. 25 July, Makarios III Amphitheatre Nicosia and Tue. 26 July, Kourion Ancient Theatre Limassol. Finally, as we have already mentioned, the festival ends with Dionysus Feast, presented by the National Theatre Of Northern Greece at the Kourion Ancient Theatre, on Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 30, 2011.
Accommodation is still available in Paphos, starting at less than 35 EUROS per night, in Nicosia starting at 65 EUROS per night, and in Limassol starting at about 43 EUROS per night. You can find more information about ticket pricing and schedule at the Cyprus Centre of the International Theatre Institute website.
Featured images, Wikipedia and the Cyprus Centre of the International Theatre Institute.