PRESS RELEASE Takeaways from the First in a series of hybrid webinars on Atreides: The Greek and Czech Society Turned Upside Down On Stage

Takeaways from the First in a series of hybrid webinars on

Atreides: The Greek and Czech Society Turned Upside Down On Stage, held at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, from Saturday 20 to Monday 22, 2021.

Within the framework of Regional Operational Program “ATTICA” Partnership Agreement 2014-2020, Act: Establishment and Promotion of International Institutions of Contemporary Culture in Attica

Τhe Michael Cacoyannis Foundation organizes the  Action: Ancient Drama: Interdisciplinary and Cross Art Approaches

In the context of the act: “ESTABLISHMENT AND PROMOTION OF INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF MODERN CULTURE IN ATTICA”

Institution: “Ancient Drama: Interdisciplinary and Inter-artistic Approaches”

The First hybrid webinar took place in the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation cinema hall, inviting leading personalities of the Greek and world theater, artists, and academics to discuss the reception of ancient drama in Greece and the Czech Republic. 

Participants included Freddy Decreus (Universiteit Gent), Dimitris Dimitriadis (writer – translator), Erika Fischer-Lichte (Freie Universität Berlin), Platon Mavromoustakos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Eleni Papazoglou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Milo Rau (director-writer- artistic director of NT Gent), Henri Schoenmakers (Roosevelt Academy, Universiteit Utrecht), Konstantina Stamatogiannaki (theatrologist – archivist), Peter Stein (director) and Oliver Taplin (University of Oxford – APGRD),

The first day opened with the welcoming addresses of the MCF artistic director, Alexandra Georgopoulou, the director of the Czech Center of Athens, Lucie Kuligová, and Platon Mavromoustakos. 

Platon Mavromoustakos, Gogo Varzelioti (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Grigoris Ioannidis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) and Henri Schoenmakers chaired the day’s sessions.

 Saturday 11/20/21

Erika Fischer-Lichte spoke in depth about the performances of Max Reinhardt, Lothar Muthel, and Peter Stein while Oliver Taplin examined the different directing lines followed by Peter Hall and Katie Mitchell in their approach to the Aeschylus trilogy.

 Sunday 11/21/21

On the second day of the seminar, Henri Schoenmakers looked into a series of European performances of Oresteia, focusing on the voting scene in Eumenides, and Eleni Papazoglou spoke about the reception of the performances of Oresteia that have been staged in Greece after the fall of the military junta, in the late 70s.

Konstantina Stamatogiannaki discussed the use of archival sources in theatrical research, and Dimitris Dimitriadis shared his experience and approach when translating ancient drama.

As the last session of the day, the webinar hosted Peter Stein and Platon Mavromoustakos in an open session where the great director shared with the audience how he worked for a decade with his team in the Schaubühne, on the staging of his iconic Oresteia. 

Monday 22/11/21

Freddy Decreus opened the last day looking into the reversal of the “myth of continuous progress” and the symbols in performances of ancient drama in recent years, with references to Romeo Castellucci, Theodore Terzopoulos, Luk Perceval, and Milo Rau. Afterward, Decreus and Milo Rau discussed the latter’s way of working and his involvement with ancient tragedy. The participants were shown as segment of Daniel Demoustier’s documentary The making-of: Orestes in Mosul on the staging of Rau’s namesake performance as well as a video on an initiative to establish a film school in Mosul. This was followed by a discussion with the audience.

This series was so well received that it will be repeated on the following dates (www.youtube.com/c/MCacoyannisF/) :

Monday 13 December (16.00-20.00)

Tuesday 14 December (14.00-22.00)

Wednesday 15 December (16.00-20.00)