THE PERSIANS BY AESCHYLOUS
ANCIENT THEATRE OF EPIDAURUS 2017
We find ourselves in the realms of narcissism and arrogance. It is a walled-in, marginalized area that has been imposed, not chosen. Hunger for power, unrestrained total control, and enforced obedience are considered the noblest of values. The elimination of free will and the compliance to the One and the equal-to-a-God King reinforce the despairing inertia of the kingdom and its subjects. The frenzied clamor for control and contempt will soon begin to sound and the son-king will become ravenous and voracious. He will set off his campaign vigorously trying to gain more wealth. Pride, arrogance and disdain will prevail. We are set to watch in the show the shaking of what so far has been and unshakeable system. The news that the campaign has been crashed arrive. The empire of solitude and dogma has been defeated by people who are free, by people who are not slaves or subjects to anyone.
The performance combines poetic speech, live music and acting. The actors approach the meaning, the rhythm and the sounds of the poetic text with musicality as a means of representation and transformation. The main characters, as well as the Chorus, reveal the musical texture of the play through their performance. Using this simple architecture, the performance unfolds through the use of essential components – action, words, songs and movement – and aims to reveal incessant vibrations of ancient Greek drama and its appeal nowadays.