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while making it feel relevant to the fast-chang-
ing modern world.
In 1997 the Theatre Lab Company was awarded
the Hellenic Foundation Arts Award. The Com-
pany has participated in international theatre fes-
tivals in New York, Edinburgh, London, Greece,
Belgrade, Dublin and Prague.
A bouquet of performances marking the theatrical
course of the National Theatre of Northern Greece
since 1961 and a celebration of ancient Greek
tragedies and comedies, the
Dionysus Feast
was
a glorious close to the festival. The National The-
atre of Northern Greece celebrated its first 50 years
with the
Dionysus Feast
, providing theatergoers
at the Athens Festival, in Thasos, at the Theatre of
the Forest, in Epidaurus, and in Cyprus with indel-
ible memories. The
Dionysus Feast
was directed
byYiannis Rigas and Grigoris Karantinakis from a
text synthesis by Kostas Georgousopoulos.
The 15
th
International Festival of Ancient Greek
Drama was organised by the Cyprus Centre of the
International Theatre Institute, the Cultural Servic-
es of the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture
and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.
The Performances
Amphiktio Theatre:
Cyclops
Translator: Vaios Liapis, Director: Nicos Chara-
lambous, Set: Andy Bargilly, Music: Michalis
Christodoulides, Masks/Costumes: Mariza Bar-
gilly, Lighting Design: Nicos Charalambous,
Costas Hadjistavrou, Production Management:
Costas Hadjistavrou, Assistant Director: Christi-
ana Mouzoura, Movement: NatalyAmman, Song
Instructor: Demetra Philippou.
Performers: Cyclops – Manos Galanis, Odysseus
– Philippos Sofianos, Silenus – Spyros Stavrinides,
The Trackers
is the sole remaining satyr play by Sophocles. It was discovered in 1912 in the
town of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. Only 393 lines survived the destruction of the papyrus on
which it was written. The satyr play is neither a tragedy nor a comedy. It conveys a totally
idiosyncratic atmosphere where the comical can change to the tragic and also coexist with it
without becoming grotesque.
If tragedy is a ritual of conciliation, with all kinds of extreme and unpredictable loss, and comedy
is the symbolic management of abysmal desire, the satyric drama playfully mirrors the whole
spectrum of human experience.
In this play Sophocles conceives and re-enacts the shudder and awe of the people who listened for the
first time to the music of the lyre invented by young Hermes. This shudder does not merely stem from
this unprecedented acoustic event, but from the deeper realisation of the spiritual nature of our being.
Apollo is infuriated and ready to tear the thief Hermes to pieces in accordance with his advantageous
position of divine power, the right of ownership and, of course, instinct, but his feelings change the
moment he hears the music. He accepts the identity of Hermes and his own, which he had forgotten.
So the poet here gives meaning to our existence, which has a transcendental, humanistic nature and is
devoted to the ceaseless search for goodness.
The sound, aesthetic and choreographic design of the performance perfectly serves the reality of the
text and its ideas.
Demos Avdeliodis
Photo: Cyprus Centre of the International Theatre Institute