“THE FROGS” by Aristophanes

A comedy with the DNA of a tragedy

Known for their atmospheric, almost dreamlike productions, Efi Birba and Aris Servetalis present their new performance, ‘The Frogs’ by Aristophanes, on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th August at 9pm at the Ancient Theatre of Philippi, as part of the 66th Philippi Festival. A modern adaptation of the beloved Aristophanic comedy that deals with the value of poetry and art in our society.

Efi Birba delivers a comedy with the DNA of a tragedy, translated by Konstantinos Blathras, adapted in collaboration with Konstantinos Blathras and Aris Servetalis, with music by Constantine Skourlis. The cast is completed by an excellent group of performers:  Aris Servetalis, Michalis Sarantis, Argyris Xafis, Ilektra Nikolouzou, Mairi Mina, Ektoras Liatsos, Michalis Theofanous, Alexandra Kazazou, Nancy Boukli and Kyriakos Salis.

Athens is going through a deep political and intellectual crisis, a crisis of institutions and values. In the arid and threatening reality of the city, Dionysus, father and creator of the theatre, sets out on a journey to the Underworld to bring back the seed of renaissance, of poetry, to save the crumbling world. Accompanied by Xanthias and the sound of frogs, through a series of comical and paradoxical encounters, he reaches Hades to resurrect the Poet. The one who can face the coming destruction. Out of the cracks of the play’s pure comedy, the weaknesses of the living and the dead escape and the fetid waters of reality are stirred. Envisioning the great idea of saving the world, Dionysus’ descent into Hades simultaneously becomes a descent into the mechanism of theatre itself. In the footsteps of Dionysus, the performance in turn seeks to reach the core of theatrical creation, with the magnificent Aristophanic expressionism as its guide.