Philippi Festival
Festival Programme
67th Philippi Festival
&
8th Ancient Drama Workshop
7.7 – 7.9.2024
"Meeting with the Sun"
One of the country’s most significant festivals, the Philippi Festival, returns for the 67th year under the artistic direction of the Artistic Director of the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala, Eva Oikonomou Vamvaka. From July 7th to September 7th, 2024, audiences will have the opportunity to attend the summer’s most important performances and concerts, along with new productions from the Municipal Theatre of Kavala, directed by renowned creators. Special performances, centred around the Ancient Theatre of Philippi, will also be spread across various locations throughout the city.
A primary ambition of the Festival is the training of young actors with new tools. To this end, the 8th Ancient Drama Workshop (28/8 – 7/9) will be held again this year, featuring presentations by esteemed directors.
This year’s event is titled “Meeting with the Sun” after the book by Vassilis Vassilikos (1972), to whose memory the 67th Philippi Festival is dedicated. The celebrated and globally awarded author, Vassilis Vassilikos, was born in 1933 in Kavala and honoured his city at every opportunity.
Artistic Director’s Greeting
This year’s Philippi Festival seeks – like all of us – a meeting with the light, with the radiance that will warm and illuminate it, briefly dispelling the darkness of everyday life. It borrows its title from Vassilis Vassilikos‘s poetry collection, thereby linking its harvest with Him; with the great writer, born in our city, who managed to let it travel all over the world through his work and life.
And since this year he decided to travel to the Beyond, we cannot but bid him farewell on this journey with a celebration of creation. Placing his work and spirit at the centre, we dedicate this year’s festival to his memory and we let him inspire us. In the six new productions of the Philippi Festival, the new texts that will emerge will incorporate elements of his work or stand opposite them, engaging in a dialogue.
Continuing our habit of staging performances Outside the Walls, this year the new productions will attempt to awaken buildings in the city that are dormant. A former mosque, an abandoned pumping station, a fortress from another era, a derelict factory, a picturesque tavern, and of course, the iconic archaeological site of Philippi, will become the locations that will form our map this year. And they will create a path to the light that will pass through 21 unique stops, 21 meeting points of people and stories.
With two atmospheric concerts, thirteen significant guest performances, six of our own productions, and the presentation of the experimental ancient drama workshop, the 67th Philippi Festival aims to chart its own bright course.
DETAILED PROGRAM
SUNDAY, JULY 7
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
Concert
STAMATIS KRAOUNAKIS
“Love Goes to Work”
PRODUCTION: GR ENTERTAINMENT WORLD LTD
Love, a part of our lives.
Featuring many new and old songs by Stamatis.
Great timeless popular hits that have marked our nights, sorrows, and hopes, from a group of people who believe in the power of song and its entertaining function and are ready to lead this evening to our most beautiful dreams.
With the composer leading, the artists.
CREDITS:
Stamatis Kraounakis and, with one soul, alphabetically:
Piano: Dimitrios Andreadis
Singing: Christos Gerontidis
Bouzouki, Spanish Lute: Nikos Katsikis
Bouzouki, Guitar, Singing: Kosmas Kokolis
Singing: Kostas Bougiotis
Singing: Penny Xenaki
Violin, Singing: Theologos Papanikolaou
Double Bass: Lambros Papanikolaou
Singing: Giorgos Stivanakis
Cello: Giorgos Tamiolakis
Sound: Giorgos Tsatsoulis
Lights: Dimitris Jim Laios
Production Management: Gionik – Giorgos Tsevrenis
Poster Photo: Thanos Lainas
Artwork: Dimitris Makaratzis
Stamatis Kraounakis and Group Communication: Despina Kraounaki
Ticket prices: 20€ Regular // 15€ Student, Unemployed
Online pre-sale: more.com
MONDAY, JULY 8 – TUESDAY, JULY 9
PALIA MOUSIKI
“PHOTOGRAPHS” by Lyto Triantafyllidou
PRODUCTION: Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala
Inspired by the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos.
A live auction-performance where the audience is invited to appraise and purchase all of Lazarus’s possessions. Each item for sale represents a memento from his first love. Can love really be interpreted or captured in words? Or is love a fleeting moment that lasts as long as the click of a camera?
Directed and Dramaturgically Adapted by: Lyto Triantafyllidou
Lighting and Stage Design by: Vasilis Apostolatos
Original Music Composition by: Alexandra Katerinopoulou
CAST:
Ilektra Fragkiadaki, Dimitris Passas
Ticket prices: 10€ Regular // 8€ Reduced
Online pre-sale: ticketservices.gr
*The performance will be presented at KILOWATT FESTIVAL (Italy) as part of the European Festival Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA).
FRIDAY, JULY 12 – SATURDAY, JULY 13
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“THE BIRDS” by Aristophanes
PRODUCTION: TΕHNIHOROS
What would happen if someone organised the birds to become carriers of a new reality?
Two friends, Pisthetaerus and Euelpides, disillusioned with the living conditions in their city, seek a new place where they can live in peace and joy. Their contact with the bird world gives them the idea to establish a new city in the sky, between earth and heaven.
As the construction of the city is progresses, uninvited visitors from the human world arrive, claiming unauthorised powers and privileges, while envoys of the gods of Olympus, disturbed by the challenge to divine sovereignty, protest as the new city prevents the smoke from sacrifices from reaching the sky.
With human civilisation at a critical juncture, the flight of the birds resembles an initiation ceremony and reconnection of man with the natural world, and the unprecedented power that arises from this relationship.
Will Pisthetaerus and Euelpides, with the birds’ contribution, manage to complete the construction of Cloudcuckooland?
How easy will it be to realise their own utopia?
CREDITS:
Translation: Tasos Roussos
Direction: Aris Biniaris
Dramaturgical Editing – Adaptation: Elena Triantafyllopoulou – Aris Biniaris
Stage – Costume Design: Paris Mexis
Music Composition: Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis
Movement Direction: Alexandros Vardaxoglou
Lighting Design: Vangelis Mountrichas
Chorus Masks: Dimitra Kaisari
A’ Assistant Director: Nefeli Papanastasopoulou
B’ Assistant Director: Vangelis Prassas
Stage – Costume Design Assistant: Alegia Papageorgiou
Communication & Press Office: Maria Tsolaki
Advertisement – Social Media: Renegade Media
Production: Tehnihoros Theatrical Productions
Promo Photos: Mariza Kapsambeli
3D Graphics: Erifili Doukeli
Promo Video: Thomas Palyvos
CAST:
Pisthetaerus: Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos
Euelpides: Giorgos Chrysostomou
Epops: Kostas Koronaios
Oracle – Prometheus: Stelios Iakovidis
Poet – Iris: Konstantina Takalou
Meton – Heracles: Errikos Miliaris
Inspector – Poseidon: Marios Panagiotou
Informer: Thanasis Isidorou
Chorus: Michalis Valasoglou, Thanasis Isidorou, Tasos Korkos, Sofia Koulera, Avgoustinos Koumoulos, Maria Kirozi, Kyriakos Salis, Alexia Sapranidou, Irini Tsellou
Ticket prices: 23€ Regular // 20€ Student, Unemployed, Disabled, over 65 years old
Online pre-sale: more.com
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17
ANCIENT Theatre OF PHILIPPI
“HERAKLES” by Euripides
PRODUCTION: THEATRICAL ENTERPRISES TAGARI
“What man was born so miserable?”
Euripides, in his rarely performed play “Herakles,” places Herakles at the centre. This mythical figure will descend into the most painful collapse, transforming from a demigod into a polluted being, through a relentless game of the Gods.
In this work, the Poet’s darkest and most human, the setting is Thebes, which is under the tyranny of Lycus after Herakles left for his final labour. Herakles’ father and wife, exiled and condemned to death, have no hope. Neither does the Chorus, suddenly enslaved under Lycus’ tyranny. When Herakles returns from the Underworld, having completed all his labours, he overthrows Lycus, and it seems their ending will be happy. But the will of the Gods – the Tyranny of Herakles – stains the hero’s hands with the most morbid blood. The blood of his wife and children, whom he will kill, driven mad by the frenzy of Lyssa.
A punishment for a hero (?), a demigod (?), or simply a man who exceeded the norm, stepping out of the human and disturbing the structure and predefined boundaries?
CREDITS:
Translation: Mairi Giosi
Direction: Dimitris Karantzas
Dramaturgical Editing: Antonis Antonopoulos, Dimitris Karantzas
Music: Fotis Siotas
Stage Deisgn: Konstantinos Skourletis
Costume Design: Ioanna Tsami
Movement Direction: Tasos Karachalios
Lighting Design: Dimitris Kasimatis
Artwork, Photos & Video: Gely Kalambaka
Assistant Director: Panagiotis Gizotis
Communication & Public Relations: Olga Pavlatou
Social Media: Renegade Media
Production Organisation: Katerina Liatsou
CAST:
Herakles: Pygmalion Dadakaridis
Amphitryon: Giorgos Gallos
Megara: Stefania Goulioti
Iris: Iro Bezou
Lyssa: Anna Kalaitzidou
Lycus: Aineias Tsamatis
Theseus: Nikos Milias
Chorus | Live Music: Fotis Siotas / Dimitris Chatzizisis
Chorus: Giannis Klinis, Gal Robissa, Babis Galiatsatos, Thanasis Raftopoulos, Antonis Antonopoulos
Ticket prices: 25€ Regular // 20€ Student, Unemployed, Child, Disabled, Large Families
Online pre-sale: more.com
SATURDAY, JULY 20
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“HAMLET” by William Shakespeare
PRODUCTION: ETAIREIA TECHNIS
William Shakespeare, with his masterpiece “Hamlet,” offers a monumental work to world theatre, one that has built its own mythology over centuries. A dive into the essence of humanity and, at the same time, a requiem for its dark side. Through Hamlet, Shakespeare captures the essence of his era, which also resonates with our own. A timeless and deeply political text.
Using the magnificent poetic translation by Giorgos Cheimonas, the performance follows the “collapse” of a world incapable of obeying rules and ethics. A dark, ruthless world where friendship and blood relations mean nothing. A “shaky” world of expediencies and self-interest: a country called Brutality. Hamlet knows from the start that this world is rotten and must be destroyed: there is no good use for it. Sink it! Throughout the play, Hamlet—armed only with the theatrical device—continuously reveals and denounces the decay. Shakespeare assigns Hamlet to “stage” a play within the play so that both spectators and protagonists of the tragedy can experience the magnitude of the decline through the magnifying glass of the stage, which is inevitably unavoidable. For the exemplary world is already dead…
CREDITS:
Translation: Giorgos Cheimonas
Text Processing – Direction: Themis Moumoulidis
Music: Stavros Gasparatos
Stage Design: Mikaela Liakata
Costume Design: Vasiliki Syrma
Movement Direction: Patricia Apergi
Lighting Design: Nikos Sotiropoulos
Sword Fighting Choreography: Anastasis Roilos
Assistant Director: Katerina Liapopoulou
Promotion: Eirini Lagourou
Photography: Elina Giounanli
Artwork: Thomas Palyvos
CAST:
Anastasis Roilos
Ioanna Pappa
Michalis Syriopoulos
Theodoros Skyftoulis
Thanasis Dovris
Marouska Panagiotopoulou
Tzeni Kazakou
Aris Ninikas
Dimitris Apostolopoulos
Ticket prices: 22€ Regular // 18€ Reduced
Online pre-sale: more.com
SUNDAY, JULY 21
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“THE SELFISH GIANT” by Oscar Wilde
PRODUCTION: THEATRE COMPANY MIKROS VORRAS
“any giant who plants in his garden
a small bit of kindness,
will soon see a giant evergreen tree
grow in just a few days’ time!”
How do we deal with anger? What does “mine” mean?
What are the walls we build around ourselves?
Oscar Wilde’s “The Selfish Giant” is a revealing fairy tale for both little and grown-up children. In the theatrical adaptation by the company, Oscar Wilde’s world is transported to our contemporary world with humour, tenderness, and reflection, highlighting the ever-relevant issue of active citizenship and focusing on managing emotions, especially anger.
…when walls are built, they collapse…
In the Giant’s beautiful garden, where all kinds of flowers bloom, children gather and play every day, as there is no other free space. When the Giant returns, he gets angry and drives the children away, building a huge wall. Desolation and Winter prevail in the garden. Until one day… the Giant’s heart is filled with love for the first time, and the garden is filled with happy children again.
For children aged 4+.
CREDITS:
Author: Oscar Wilde
Translation: Dimitris – Chrysos Tomaras
Direction: Alexandros Nikolaidis
Theatrical Adaptation: the company
Stage/Costume Design: Petroula Liora, Andreana Liora
Original Music Composition: Thodoris Papadimitriou
Lyrics: Antonis Papatheodoulou, Evangelia Papamichail
Movement Direction: Tasos Papadopoulos
Song Coaching: Afroditi Nikolioudaki
Lighting Design: Giannis Kyratzis
Collaborator for the interactive part: Melina Chatzigeorgiou
Dramaturgical Editing: Eleftheria Kampagiovani
Assistant Director: Aspasia Dimou
Music/lyrics for the song “This garden is mine”: Aphrodite Nikolioudaki
Graphic Design: Dori Loukri
Promotion: Loukia Argyriadou
Artistic Direction: Tasos Ratzos
CAST:
Angelos Gougousis, Myrsini Karmatzoglou, Vaso Mamali
*The performance is under the auspices and financial support of the Ministry of Culture.
Ticket prices: 10€ pre-sale // 12€ at the box office on the day of the performance
Online pre-sale: more.com
MONDAY, JULY 22 – TUESDAY, JULY 23
KAVALA FORTRESS
“INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE WALLS” by Kostas Papakonstantinou
PRODUCTION: MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL THEATRE OF KAVALA
The performance draws its material from Vassilis Vassilikos’s short story collection “The Rebetes and Other Stories” (1977).
Starting with the short story “The Trunk,” two actors on stage search through an old trunk, looking for elements, phrases, and objects to create heroes and heroines from the past and narrate their stories theatrically. Each object they pull out triggers an association, expressed with a verse or a phrase until the next object interrupts it. This game of disguises leads to the memory of a childhood friend. Ino, the author’s childhood friend, on the day he leaves for Auschwitz, asks his friend to take care of his house until he returns. The two children cannot conceive the inconceivable and hope that this journey will have a quick return.
“My friend Ino” is the story that forms the main text of the performance. In this, our two actors will stand and narrate a story that touches on a taboo subject for Greek society: Jewish properties and their appropriation during the Nazi occupation and the local mafia.
CREDITS:
Direction: Kostas Papakonstantinou
Stage/Lighting Design: Vasilis Apostolatos
Music Direction: Vasilis Koutsilieris
Costumes, Stage Props: Filanthi Bougatsou
CAST:
Stavrou Elena, Marianna Ntirou
Ticket prices: 10€ Regular // 8€ Reduced
Online pre-sale: ticketservices.gr
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
GIORGOS ANDREOU – ODYSSEAS IOANNOU
“They called me Marika – They named me Marika”
Stories of women in Folk Music
CO-PRODUCTION: NATIONAL THEATRE OF NORTHERN GREECE – MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL THEATRE OF SERRES
Giorgos Andreou and Odysseas Ioannou create a musical-theatrical work dedicated to the women of Greek Music, the heroines of the stage and of life, who, through their art and faith in the miracle, rose to become icons of Greek Culture. Their voices have marked the historical course of Hellenism. The songs they performed and the lives they led constitute valuable testimony and a spiritual legacy.
Andreou and Ioannou’s work focuses on the period between 1920 and 1960—forty years that shaped Greek Folk Music in all its forms: Smyrnaic, Rebetiko, and Laiko. Forty years of masterpieces intertwined with the triumphs and disasters of Hellenism. Forty exciting, shocking, and unforgettable years.
CREDITS:
Direction: Asterios Peltekis
Stage Design: Danai Pana
Costume Design: Nikos Charlaftis
Music Composition – Orchestration: Giorgos Andreou
Choreography: Stella Eminoglou
Lighting Design: Stelios Tzolopoulos
Video & graphics: Mike Rafail
Assistant Directors: Lili Adraskela, Evi Sarmi
CAST:
Klotho: Lili Adraskela
Daughter: Panagiota Vitezaki
Atropos: Iro Dimitriadou
Fortune-teller: Evi Sarmi
Lachesis: Chrysa Toumanidou
Singers – Performers::
Marika 1: Korina Legaki
Marika 2: Eleni Tsaligopoulou
Musicians on stage:
Traianos Albanoudis (double bass)
Giorgos Andreou/Sakis Kontonikolas (piano)
Marianti Themeli (trumpet)
Vangelis Kalamaras (drums)
Christos Makris (flute)
Pavlos Pafranidis (bouzouki)
Zografos Stavridis (accordion)
Spyros Chatzikonstantinou (guitar)
Konstantinos Sakarelis/Giorgos Poulianitis (oboe)
Ticket prices:
15€ online and in-person pre-sale // 17€ at the box office on the day of the performance // 13€ Student, Senior 65+ // 11€ Teachers, Professors, Group (20 people) // 9€ Unemployed // 8€ Disabled & Companions of Disabled
Online pre-sale: more.com
SATURDAY, JULY 27 – SUNDAY, JULY 28
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“THE SUPPLIANTS” by Aeschylus
PRODUCTION: NEOS KOSMOS THEATRE – ART THEATRE KAROLOS KOUN
A poetic and deeply political work, centred on contemporary concerns about the concept of asylum in a democratic society– especially when the persecuted are women.
In the play (the first and only surviving work of Aeschylus’ “Danaid Tetralogy”), a collective female character takes the lead: the Chorus of the fifty Danaides who, along with their father Danaus, flee Libya and Egypt, seeking asylum in the city of Argos. Like their ancestor Io, whom Hera relentlessly pursued, sending her a bothersome gadfly, the “oestrus,” to torment her, the Danaides now struggle to escape the fifty sons of Egypt, who demand to marry them by force. The myth raises the issue of the identity and position of women in society, while also narrating the chronicle of the establishment and dominance of the Greek race in the land of the Pelasgians, the so-called “Pre-Greeks.”
The Danaides Supplicants speak of the needs that drive people to uproot themselves from their homeland, the harsh fate of the refugee, the value of justice, and the principles of democracy. Above all, however, they speak of the struggle of Woman against Man, who seeks to impose himself by force.
CREDITS:
Translation: Ioannis Gryparis
Text and Dramaturgical Editing – Direction: Marianna Kalbari
Stage – Costumes Design: Christina Kalbari
Music Composition: Charalambos Gogios
Choreography: Christina Sougioultzi
Lighting Design: Stella Kaltsou
Assistant Director: Marilena Moschou
Stage – Costume Design Assistants: Kyriaki Forti, Katerina Kyrtatou
Music Coaching: Eirini Patsea, Simela Emmanouilidou
CHÓRES Production Coordination: Veroniki Krikoni
Production Management: Marina Gavriilidou
CAST (alphabetically):
Pelasgus: Lydia Koniordou
Amymone: Loukia Michalopoulou
Hypermnestra: Lena Papaligoura
Danaus: Akis Sakellariou
Herald of Aegyptus: Giannis Tsortekis
Chorus Leader: Christina Sougioultzi
Chorus Leaders CHÓRES (alphabetically):
Eleni Vasilaki, Konstantina Giannopoulou, Giota Dimitrakopoulou, Fani Lykou, Iony Moschovakou, Dafni Pagoulatou, Eleni Pouliou, Elina Stamopoulou, Danai Stergiou, Nikolaia Triantafyllou
Drama School of Art Theatre Chorus Leaders (alphabetically):
Nefeli Dodopoulou, Myrto Kapoli, Renia Kritikou, Anna Morogianni
Ticket prices: 22€ Regular // 18€ Unemployed, Students, Large Families, Disabled, Senior 65+
Online pre-sale: more.com
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“AJAX” by Sophocles
PRODUCTION: “THEAMA MARTA” MARKOS TAGARIS AND CO.
The successful performance directed by Giorgos Nanouris with Michalis Sarantis and Apostolos Chantzaras, which thrilled both audiences and critics, returns this summer.
Michalis Sarantis delivers a stunning performance portraying all nine roles in the tragedy, while Apostolos Chantzaras engages in dialogue with him, painting in front of the audience’s eyes.
Ajax, the greatest warrior in the Greek camp, is entitled to Achilles’ arms after his death. When these end up with Odysseus through a scheme, he decides to take revenge. However, he falls prey to the goddess Athena and becomes the laughingstock of the Greek army.
Dishonoured and desperate, he commits suicide.
CREDITS:
Translation: Nikos A. Panagiotopoulos
Direction: Giorgos Nanouris
Performance: Michalis Sarantis
Painting: Apostolos Chantzaras
Stage – Lighting Design: Giorgos Nanouris
Text Adaptation: Giorgos Nanouris – Michalis Sarantis
Photos: Elina Giounanli
Ticket prices: 20€ Regular // 15€ Student, Unemployed, Children, Disabled, Large Families
Online pre-sale: more.com
SATURDAY, AUGUST 3
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“PLUTUS” by Aristophanes
PRODUCTION: NATIONAL THEATRE OF NORTHERN GREECE
Chremylos worries about his son’s future. Which path should he choose in life: the honest one, which will force him to live in poverty and deprivation, or the path of dishonesty and corruption, which will help him live comfortably? The meeting with Plutus, who roams blind and punished by Zeus, will help him solve his practical problem.
But what about the moral one? Can wealth coexist with virtue? What is the difference between people with money and truly wealthy people? And what is ultimately in the citizens’ interest? Unrestrained individual enrichment or a rich public treasury?
Chremylos, Aristophanes’ alter ego, experiences in a traumatic way a reality where social values, ideas, and ethics in the New Age have unfortunately decayed.
The poet, with his uniquely satirical style, shows us a way to manage material goods, always with the City’s benefit in mind.
A City with just, honest, and virtuous citizens.
Utopian thinking? Maybe.
But Aristophanes retains the right to dream!
GIANNIS KAKLEAS
DIRECTOR
CREDITS:
Translation – Loose translation of text – Direction: Giannis Kakleas
Stage Design: Manolis Pantelidakis
Costume Design: Ilenia Douladiri
Original Music: Vaios Prapas
Original Lyrics: Teleftaios Kalesmenos
Choreography: Stefania Sotiropoulou
Lighting Design: Stella Kaltsou
Assistant Director: Aris Kakleas
Stage – Costume Designer Assistant: Danai Pana
Costume Designer Assistant: Manolis Psomatakis
Lighting Designer Assistant: Ifigenia Gianniou
Production Organisation: Athanasia Androni
*(Stage-Costume Designer Assistant in practical training): Despina Papadimitriou
CAST
Chremylos: Manos Vakousis
Plutus: Alexandros Zouridakis
Carion: Giannis Syrios
Penia 1: Polyxeni Spyropoulou
Penia 2: Chrysi Bachtsevani
Penia 3: Anna Efthymiou
Penia 4: Kleio – Danai Othonaiou
Carion’s group: Anastasia Kelesi, Fabrizio Muço, Christina Bakastathi, Stefania Sotiropoulou, Giannis Tomazos, Christos Tsavos
Cleonymus: Dimitris Diakosavvas
Archidamia: Fay Kokkinopoulou
Artemidoros: Giannis Tsemberlidis
Elpinor: Dimitris Morfakidis
Elpiniki: Alexandra Palaiologou
Leucothea: Fotini Timotheou
Thrasybulos: Giannis Charisis
Callisthenes: Thanos Feretzelis
Aerope: Mairi Andreou
Lysimachos: Eleni Mischopoulou
Dancers on stage: Anastasia Kelesi, Stefania Sotiropoulou, Marios Chatziantonis, Nikolas Chatzivasileiadis
Musicians on stage: Vaios Prapas, Teleftaios Kalesmenos
During the play’s Parabasis, the Historian and University of Athens Professor, Maria Efthymiou, makes an appearance.
Neighbours – Initiates – Chremylos and Penia’s choreography – Party guests: The Cast
Ticket prices: 17€ online pre-sale // 20€ Regular // 14€ Student, over 65 // 11€ Teachers – Professors, Group (20 people) // 10€ Unemployed // 8€ Disabled & Companions of Disabled
Online pre-sale: more.com
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7 – THURSDAY, AUGUST 8
OLD AQUEDUCT OF KAVALA – AMISIANA
“THE FLIGHT” by Eva Oikonomou – Vamvaka
PRODUCTION: MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL THEATRE OF KAVALA
It is the year 2050.
The city of Kavala has been completely taken over by this once-likeable-and-harmless species, the seagulls. Their initially discreet presence has now become dominant. Houses and public spaces have turned into nesting grounds, and everywhere on the streets, you can see their eggs. If you make the mistake of destroying them, the aerial attack is immediate and irreversible. In an abandoned building, a group of seven almost-strangers tries to survive. And they wonder how they managed to get here.
A new, original text that creatively converses with Vassilis Vassilikos’ dystopian trilogy (The Plant – The Well – The Angel) and, in attempting to continue his thoughts, it questions what the end of our days will be like. How will the world be afterwards? And what means will the earth find to punish us for all we didn’t do, for all the opportunities we lost. Is there a crack that can fit us, or has our time already passed?
Text & Direction: Eva Oikonomou – Vamvaka
Visual Design – Assistant Director: Michaila Pliaplia
Stage & Lighting Design: Vasilis Apostolatos
Movement Direction: Fotini Meletiadou
Original Music: the company
CAST:
Konstantina Verrou, Iasonas Papamattheou, Pavlos Stavropoulos, Fotini Meletiadou
Participating:
Sofia Giannakaki, Fylachtos Palioglou, Androniki Polychronidou, and others
Ticket prices: 10€ Regular // 8€ Reduced
Online pre-sale: ticketservices.gr
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 – SUNDAY, AUGUST 11
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“THE IMAGINARY INVALID” by Molière
PRODUCTION: ΤΕCHNICHOROS E.E.
In Molière’s comedic microscope, we find Argan, an aristocrat living a comfortable life of wealth and privilege, who considers himself the centre of the world and oppresses those around him, demanding they serve his whims and caprices. Yet Argan himself suffers as he feels something is wrong. Terribly hypochondriac and nosophobic, he is convinced that his problem lies in his very fragile health. That is why he has called all the doctors to find him a cure. In vain; the doctors – and all kinds of charlatans – try all the tested and experimental treatments on him to rid him of his “unknown” disease.
But is Argan really sick? And if so, does he suffer from an illness that medicine can cure? Or is he an insecure, fearful man who, despite having everything, tries to find out what bothers him and makes him unhappy, and under the pretext of his fragile health, strives to provoke the interest of those around him and ensure they care for him? And perhaps Molière’s Argan is not very different from the modern man who is never satisfied with anything and, despite living a comfortable family life, ultimately realises that his deepest and most important need is to be loved?
CREDITS:
Direction – Adaptation: Aimilios Cheilakis – Manolis Dounias
Free Adaptation: Manolis Dounias
Set Design: Giorgos Gavalas
Costume Design: Alexia Theodoraki
Music Composition: Thodoris Oikonomou
Lighting Design: Nikos Vlasopoulos
Movement Direction: Elena Gerodimou
Assistant Director: Thanos Chatzopoulos
Graphic Design: Dimitris Gkelbouras
Social Media: Renegade Media
CAST:
Aimilios Cheilakis, Athina Maximou, Myrto Alikaki, Thodoris Romanidis, Nikos Gkelia, Vicky Diamantopoulou, Giorgos Zygouris, Dimitris Filippidis
Ticket prices: 22€ Regular // 20€ Unemployed, Student, Disabled, over 65 years old
Online pre-sale: more.com
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“THE MAGIC KEY” by Penelope Delta
PRODUCTION: VIKTOR KOULOUMBIS AND CO.
Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen who lived on a large island. This island was not very rich, but the ruler was just. The king had everything one could desire, the love of the people, the wealth earned through hard work, and a very good queen. When they had a little girl, their happiness grew even more.
At the christening, the king invited all his people, and a great feast was held. While everyone was celebrating, the fairies of the island came above the baby’s cradle to give their blessings. The first fairy bestowed beauty, grace, and a lovely voice upon the baby. The second fairy granted her intelligence. But the third fairy did not give any of these gifts, but instead she only leaned over the baby’s head and whispered:
– I am Fate. I will not give you a wish like the others. I will protect you from your own life. I wish for you, my little one, that you never be sad and never cry!
She then lightly touched the princess on the chest with her magic wand, took her heart, locked it in a golden box, and disappeared into the night without anyone being able to stop her.
If the princess herself ever wants to get her heart back, then with this key…
CREDITS:
Text: Karmen Rouggeri
Direction: Christina Kouloumpi – Karmen Rouggeri
Stage – Costume Design: Christina Kouloumpi
Movement – Choreography – Lighting Design: Petros Gallias
Music Composition – Orchestration – Video Art: Antonis Delaportas
Lyrics and Song Selection: Andreas Kouloumpis
Song Coaching – Adaptation: Eleni Zioga
Production Management – Touring Manager: Eleni Kartasi
CAST (alphabetically):
Elina Giannaki, Aris Delagrammatikas, Maria Kamakari, Stefanos Korres, Christina Kouloumpi, Eleni Boukouvala, Giannis Nikolaou, Alexandra Skendrou
Ticket prices: 12€ General Admission
Online pre-sale: more.com
TUESDAY, AUGUST 20
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF PHILIPPI, FORUM
“Z BY VASSILIS VASSILIKOS | EURIPIDES’ HECUBA” by Konstantinos Chatzis
PRODUCTION: MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL Theatre OF KAVALA
The dead no longer speak.
Dressed in the beauty of death.
They have taken so many secrets with them.
That no spring.
With whatever sprouts.
Can reveal to us.
VASSILIS VASSILIKOS
A vocal music score of words for three characters and a narrator.
The history of man, his endless thirst for power, destruction, and war, portrayed as a heartbreaking portrait of the modern world, with the words of Euripides and Vassilis Vassilikos and the character of Hecuba as the vehicle. A study on war, exile, genocide, hopes, dreams, nightmares, and darkness.
The character. The mother. The land. The homeland. The Queen. Hecuba, from the world of the dead, crosses time like a curved arrow. She wanders among the ruins, the dead bodies, the mud, the blood. Her old body, lying on the “hard, burnt land,” converses with gods and men. She struggles, resists, rises, and looks directly at the terrible face of war. Her voice echoes thunderously through the centuries again and again. The same path is followed by the music. A “different” wandering. Human steps. The rhythm, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, steady or irregular, certain or uncertain, narrates the story of every person wandering in an empty, destroyed city. Fast breaths, groans, fragmented whispers.
CREDITS:
Direction, text compilation, adaptation: Konstantinos Chatzis
Music: Giorgos Koumentakis
Dramaturgical Editing: Antigoni Karali
Lighting Design: Vasilis Apostolatos
Costume Design: Konstantinos Chatzis
Costume Construction: Panagiota Tzompanaki
Visual Design: Ioannis Chalas
Assistant Director: Panos Theodorakopoulos
Sound Design: Vasilis Droungas
Photos: Angelos Ηill
Graphic Designer: Ioannis Tsigas
Book/programme edition: Kapa Publications
Singing: Stefanos Kaltsis
Piano: Stefanos Kaltsis – Konstantinos Chatzis
CAST:
Konstantinos Chatzis
Dimitris Tsiklis
Ilektra Kartanou
Stefanos Kaltsis
*The “Daughter’s” Song will be performed by Sophia Hill to music by Giorgos Koumentakis and lyrics by Giannis Houvardas.
**The songs “Boat” and “I never boarded a ship” are composed by Sophia Hill.
Ticket prices: 10€ Regular // 8€ Reduced
Online pre-sale: ticketservices.gr
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24
ANCIENT THEATRE OF PHILIPPI
“ORESTEIA” by Aeschylus
PRODUCTION: NATIONAL THEATRE OF GREECE
In 458 BC, during a time of violent social and political upheavals, Aeschylus presents the Oresteia (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides.) at the Dionysia Festival, the only surviving trilogy of ancient drama and his last surviving work, composed just two years before his death, reflecting many of the rapid changes of his era.
The central axis of the trilogy is the tragic circuit of Orestes, which permeates all the characters in the drama and the chorus through successive stages: from destabilisation to impasse, to madness. Athena exploits this situation in the trilogy’s third part to institutionalise democracy by force through a dubious peace settlement.
Why does the Oresteia continue to exert a terrifying attraction? One possible answer might be because there is a need for a deeper connection with Myth in humans. The myth of the Oresteia is dangerous; it belongs to the uncanny and the strange, provoking terror because it reveals the wild, the violent, and the laws of the depths that cannot be tamed. Clytemnestra invites us to break the mirror together to birth from its fragments a new nightmarish image, which will, however, retain the dark roots of the myth.
Theodoros Terzopoulos
Director’s Note
CREDITS:
Translation: Eleni Varopoulou
Direction – Dramaturgical Editing: Theodoros Terzopoulos
Associate Director: Savvas Stroubos
Stage – Costume – Lighting Design: Theodoros Terzopoulos
Original Music Composition: Panagiotis Velianitis
Dramaturgy Advisor: Maria Sikitano
Performance Dramaturge: Eirini Mountraki
Assistant Director: Theodora Patiti
Assistant Stage Designer: Sokratis Papadopoulos
Assistant Costume Designer: Panagiota Kokkorou
Assistant Lighting Designer: Konstantinos Bethanis
Artistic Collaborator: Maria Vogiatzi
CAST:
Cassandra: Evelyn Assouad
Watchman/Herald: Tasos Dimas
Pylades: Konstantinos Zografos
Nurse: Elli Ingliz
Orestes: Kostas Kontogeorgopoulos
Aegisthus: David Maltese
Prophetess: Anna Marka Bonissel
Apollo: Nikos Ntasis
Herald: Dinos Papageorgiou
Athena: Aglaia Pappa
Agamemnon: Savvas Stroubos
Servant: Alexandros Tountas
Electra: Niovi Charalambous
Clytemnestra/The Shadow of Clytemnestra: Sophia Hill
Chorus: Babis Alefantis, Natalia Georgosopoulou, Katerina Dimati, Konstantinos Zografos, Pyrros Theofanopoulos, Elli Ingliz, Vasilina Katerini, Thanos Maglaras, Elpiniki Marapidi, Anna Marka Bonissel, Lygeri Mitropoulou, Rosy Monaki, Aspasia Batatoli, Nikos Ntasis, Vangelis Papagiannopoulos, Stavros Papadopoulos, Myrto Rozaki, Giannis Sanidas, Alexandros Tountas, Katerina Hill, Michalis Psalidas
Ticket prices: 20€ Regular // 15€ Senior 65+, Group tickets // 10€ Student, Unemployed, Disabled
Online pre-sale: ticketservices.gr
Start Time: 20.30
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25
ANCIENT Theatre OF PHILIPPI
“TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT”
PRODUCTION: LYKEION TON ELLINIDON OF KAVALA in collaboration with the POLYPHONIC ENSEMBLE “SYNODIPOROI” OF KAVALA
Adrift in this world, the delusion of immortality keeps us strong, yet it also provokes us to harm the only imperishable part of us, our soul. And from a garden, our deceitful life turns into a battlefield, passing through “suffering and passions,” until it finally settles into the calm of catharsis.
With this theme, in this groundbreaking performance, rare traditional songs will be presented. These songs, selected by the dance teacher of the Lykeion ton Ellinidon of Kavala, Mr. Polychronis Ioannidis, are arranged in a western style by the conductor Mr. Giannis Kanakis. The 50 “Synodiporoi” will perform under their conductor’s direction, while over 50 dancers from the Lykeion ton Ellinidon of Kavala will dance to the music, accompanied by a European orchestra of five musical instruments. Between the musical pieces, excerpts from the stories of Papadiamantis—the quintessential Greek classical writer and expressor of the human soul—will be recited, thematically embracing the songs. The recitations will be musically adorned by three traditional instruments, under the direction of Mr. Manolis Pargentakis.
CREDITS:
Organiser: Lykeion ton Ellinidon of Kavala, in collaboration with the polyphonic ensemble “Synodiporoi” of Kavala.
Dance Teacher: Polychronis Ioannidis
Conductor: Giannis Kanakis
European orchestra: Baka Kristoffer (percussion), Katsavouni Polina
(saxophone), Kozalis Christos (cello), Baxevani Elpida (piano),
Tzivenis Epaminondas (violin).
Traditional musicians: Eleni Orfanidou, Angeliki Papadopoulou, Manolis Pargentakis
Text Editing: Giouli Apokatanidou
Direction: Andreas Ladas
Stage Design: Christina Glyfou
Papadiamantis’ text recitations: Avlonitou Elissavet, Vourvoutsiotis Apostolos, Zafeiriou Georgios, Zervoudi Yro, Kampouridou Efthymia, Kesoglou Marianna, Koukias Ioannis, Koukouzikas Napoleon, Sousamli Kalliopi.
Poster Design: Nikos Nasiadis
Set Construction: Giorgos Mastorakis – Giannis Stavridis
Ticket prices: 10€ Regular // 8€ pre-sale // 5€ Child (6 – 18 years), Student, Unemployed
Online pre-sale: ticketservises.gr
*The proceeds will be donated for a charitable purpose to the SPECIAL NEEDS PRIMARY SCHOOL OF KAVALA.
MONDAY, AUGUST 26 – TUESDAY, AUGUST 27
OLD TOBACCO FACTORY – former EOK building
“POSTSCRIPT DREAMS” by Varvara Daliani
Based on the work “Onar Imerophanton” by V. Vassilikos
PRODUCTION: MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL THEATRE OF KAVALA
“Postscript dreams exist, warning dreams, that bloom on the steep slopes of Olympus, dreamwalkers-ropedancers strive to reach them but always fall short, waking up drenched in sweat, shouting as they fall into the void of the gorge, illuminated by a moonlit dream that was conquered but not abolished, because its biological components remain undiscovered.”
What would it be like to live in our dreams? What would it be like to live our dreams? Based on Vassilis Vassilikos’s “Onar Imerophanton,” Postscript Dreams – a modular work with a dreamlike structure – stirs unfulfilled dreams and hopes, tormenting loves and hesitant destinations of a country and its people, through small stories of dreamlike everyday life, centred on the printing press of a newspaper of dreams.
CREDITS:
Direction – Dramaturgy: Varvara Daliani and the group
CAST:
Anastasis Georgoulas, Panos Kougias, Danai – Arsenia Filidou
Ticket prices: 10€ Regular // 8€ Reduced
Online pre-sale: ticketservices.gr
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30
ANCIENT Theatre OF PHILIPPI
Concert
ELEFTHERIA ARVANITAKI – ELEONORA ZOUGANELI
“Together Again”
PRODUCTION: SOLAR PRODUCTIONS
The meeting of Eleftheria Arvanitaki with Eleonora Zouganeli is a collaboration that delights both the artists and the audience, who never tire of seeing these two charismatic women complement and energise each other, as well as the crowd.
Eleftheria draws musical treasures from her rich discography, while their program blends “entechno” with “laiko”, balancing deep emotion with an irresistible urge to dance and revel. The chemistry shared by the two performers creates an explosive cocktail that people never tire of pairing with their summers.
The pairing of these two charismatic artists in a program full of intensity, emotion, and beloved songs has won all of our hearts.
Those who have seen it know what we are talking about – and many will surely want to relive it.
Those who didn’t have the chance, will surely not want to miss it.
With them, a tight-knit team of 7 virtuoso musicians:
Michalis Kapilidis (drums)
Nikos Mermigas (bouzouki, lute, lavta, mandolin)
Vasilis Nissopoulos (bass)
Dimitris Stasinos (electric and acoustic guitar)
Dimitris Tsakas (saxophone)
Stelios Fragkous (piano, keyboard)
Dinos Chatziiordanou (accordion)
Lighting Direction: Maria Venetaki
Sound Direction: Giannis Lambropoulos, Haris Kremmydas, Nikos Pappas
Artistic Direction: Lida Roumani
Production: SOLAR PRODUCTIONS / PURE ART
Ticket prices: 16€ Pre-sale // 18€ at the box office on the day of the concert
Online pre-sale: more.com
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 – MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
KAVALA SHIPYARD
“THE SHIPYARD – How to Return to the Sea” by Kiki Kerzeli
PRODUCTION: MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL THEATRE OF KAVALA
“He approached the shore, and lay his body on the damp sand. From here, the sea had a different sound, as did the sun, it had a different light, hidden there behind the castle hill. On the keel, algae, algae and pebbles, covered fragments of memory and wood, making his longing for departure drift away.”
Inspired by Vassilis Vassilikos’ first prose work “The Narrative of Jason,” the performance “The Shipyard: how to return to the sea” explores memory fragments as care mechanisms before great and small returns.
A swarm of people follow, observe, “care for,” and narrate with their bodies and voices stories, embedded in the hulls of ships that lean their bodies at the shipyard, waiting for the next departure.
CREDITS:
Text: Kiki Kerzeli
Direction: Kiki Kerzeli & Fotini Meletiadou
Music Supervision – Composition: Kiki Kerzeli
Movement Direction: Fotini Meletiadou
Stage – Lighting Design: Vasilis Apostolatos
CAST:
Dimitris Mandrinos, Eleni Momtsou
The performance features participants from the experiential workshop of the same name for adults over 50 years old.
Ticket prices: 10€ Regular // 8€ Reduced
Online pre-sale: ticketservices.gr
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
SURROUNDING AREA OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF PHILIPPI
“PRESENTATIONS OF THE 8TH ANCIENT DRAMA WORKSHOP”
PRODUCTION: MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL THEATRE OF KAVALA
The 67th Philippi Festival concludes this year’s presentations with a significant institution that, in recent years, has given new life to the broader area of the Ancient Theatre, the 8th Ancient Drama Workshop. A research and creative camp that places the entire learning process at its centre, allowing for a new, refreshing perspective on Ancient Drama.
This year, with a stronger emphasis on teaching and research rather than the final result, the workshop invites three renowned directors-teachers to form working groups, and all together work for ten days, combining their knowledge, experiences, bodies, and voices to create a new world.
In this year’s edition, engaging with Vassilis Vassilikos’ dystopian trilogy (The Plant, The Well, The Angel), the workshop explores its own utopias and dystopias as they appear in Ancient Drama texts and creates the bodies that will inhabit them as a chorus.
INSTRUCTORS (alphabetically):
Konstantinos Dellas
Kostas Filippoglou
Violet Luise
Free Admission
**The workshop is a member of the Ancient Drama Network and is conducted under the auspices and support of the Ministry of Culture.
For more information, you can call the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala during office hours at 2510. 220876.
Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala
