Call for participation to the production The Thebaid 2017
An international theatrical initiative of
Panteion University Drama Center (KEDRA) and the
Michael Cacoyannis Foundation (MCF)
The Center of Classical Drama and Spectacle of Panteion University Athens (KEDRA, see blog: dramacentre.wordpress.com) and the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation (…) are calling for participants to the International Theatrical Workshop which will be the concluding part of the one-year program Ancient Drama Today (see www.kedra.gr) which has been organized with the support of the Region of Central Greece and the cooperation of the Municipality of Thebes. The Workshop will be held in Thebes, Greece, during the month of September 2017 and it will lead to the production of The Thebaid, a two-hour synthesis of passages from more ancient tragedies of the Theban Cycle (Antigone, Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, The Seven Against Thebes and The Phoenician Women). This production will be staged in Thebes, Moschopodi Open Theatre; Delphi, Phrynichos Theatre of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi; and, finally, Athens, MIchael Cacoyannis Foundation. The language of the production will be English, with some short additional passages in ancient Greek language along with Greek hypertitles. Professor Yangos Andreadis, the Artisitic Director of KEDRA, who conceived the one-year program, will be responsible for the original text composition and the direction of the performance along with a team of distinguished acting, music, dance and plastic arts teachers. Activities of the workshop will include acting adapted to ancient open theater conditions, construction and scenic use of mask, ancient Greek metric system, vocal interpretation of choral odes, mimic and dance.
The organizers are calling for young professional actors who would be interested in participating in the production. Candidates should send their bios, photos and showreels presenting their work. Additional song and dance skills and playing an instrument will be particularly considered. The organizers will provide the selected actors with full hospitality, accommodation and food for the duration of one month, transport to and from Thebes as well as the use and experience of the three historic theatres already mentioned. Participants will in turn have to cover their airplane tickets and a 800 euro contribution. The deadline for applications will be the end of March 2017.
Professor Yangos Andreadis, email: iandreadis19@gmail.com
Contact person: Maria Deca Email: deca@idis.gr, tel. 00306974782411.
Center for Clasical Drama and Spectacle
“Classical theatre is every good theatre”
The organizers are calling for young professional actors who would be interested in participating in the production. Can “Classical theatre is every good theatre. Brecht, Pinter are classic like Aeschylus”. These were the words of the great director Minoas Volanakis when he suggested the name “Centre of Classical Drama and Show”(CCDS) for the institution that operates at Panteion University since 1992.The stage reading “Kein” of Byron directed by Volanakis was the first event organised by the centre. The aims of the Centre were to research the roots of theatrical creation and to present either classical or unpublished plays using both traditional and alternative acting methods. For this purpose it organised intercultural theatrical meetings and productions with top Indian and Cuban theatre companies – p. ex. Sopanam of Kerala and Buendia of Havana, Kuba- (mixed workshops for greek and Indian classical drama and workshops dedicated to kalari –Indian version of Shaolin- and to the Cuban ritual Yoruba as an instrument of interpretation of Greek tragedy) and promoted several MA and PhD researches.
Its own theatrical activities include professional and university productions (The brothers Karamazov, the first presentation of Dostoyevsky’s “A gentle creature” in Greece, Cervantes’ Don Quixote – with the use of the Greek shadow theatre together with flamenco techniques – and musical performances). Moliere, Lorca, Ramon del Valle Inclan, Vizyinos attracted the Centre’s interest on research and creativity. Except from Yiangos Andreadis, the main associates are among others Demos Abdeliotis (multi-awarded director) Sophocles Pepas (Beaki award 2008), Yiorgos Morogiannis, Kimon Rigopoulos (actor and director) and Yiorgos Papadakis (musician).
The ancient Greek drama is by many ways at the centre of activities of CCDS( Centre of Classical Drama and Show ). This is evident from the organization of a series of congresses at Delphi, Thebes and elsewhere, as well as from the publication of the bilingual book “Tracing Dionysus, Ancient Greek Tragedy Plays”, (published by Sideris Publications in 2003) which includes analysis, list of shows , bios of actors, directors and other contributors-associates, a rich unpublished material and a relevant CD-ROM.
The main occupation of CCDS with the ancient drama is practical and creative. Since 1994 the centre presented “Bacchae, the journey of Dionysus” and “Cyclop” of Euripides in Greece, Cyprus, France, Spain and Portugal. Workshops were also conducted for “The children of Antigone” which combined the translation of the play with a cd containing the choruses and which will be used for a new forthcoming show of the theatre piece. It is also worth noting that the centre converted a car-ferry of the military navy into a floating theatre twice (1996 and 1998) and presented ancient drama around the Mediterranean and reached as far as the Lisboa EXPO. During the last years the centre experiments in a new genre which belongs at the vanguard of the international theatre: the adaptation of ancient dramas into musicals. These experiments led to productions like “Oh my murderer” (Ach dolofone mou, 2007) and “Burn it all” (Ola kafta) which are related to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Agamemnon by Aeschylus. In 2013 The Drama Centre has presented the musical Cyclops survival at Epidaurus and in 2015 the production The end of tragedy at Thebes and Athens, while in 2016 a new version of the play Quixote /Guevara.
Director of the Centre for Classical Drama and Spectacle is the Associate Professor Yiannis Skarpelos, and the Emeritus Professor Yangos Andreadis, who was the Centre’s director for twenty years is now associate director.
