A Night at Epidaurus by Nikos Karathanos

At the National Theatre of Greece | Rex Theatre – “Marika Kotopouli” Stage

A nocturnal farce, a metaphysical musical, a madcap comedy? What exactly is A Night at Epidaurus, Nikos Karathanos’s new production at the National Theatre? “It’s a slide,” says the director, “from the heights to the depths of Tartarus.” And indeed, in his own inimitable way, this inventive artist leads a twenty-strong company from the frenzy of unbridled comedy to the tragic void of existence and back again.

After a great performance has ended, the great artists stage a second performance, this time among themselves. They admire themselves, deify one another, drown out the modest chirring of the cicadas with their own egotistical trills, burst ravenous into a famous taverna, mingle with the staff, bow to themselves. And there, amid steaks, lies and sweat, they hurl themselves at one another in an unprecedented massacre that sends them down to the Underworld with the taste of cheese pie still in their mouths.

The ever-poetic Nikos Karathanos composes a hilarious stage collage out of the night and vanity, our national glory and the haloes that caught fire above our heads, our loneliness, our empty chatter, our emotional bulimia, our existential nakedness. On the stage of the Rex a paroxysmal revelry unfolds, one from which everyone tries to escape but no one can. A narcissistic gorging that, once it is over, leaves the diners emptier than when they began, their souls – an insatiable, gaping hole – untouched, begging, starving and unbearable. The evening ends, but the bills remain open, since no one could be found to pay them.

“Art must renew itself. And for that to happen, it must be set on fire,” the director notes. A remarkable, eclectic company comes together on stage for a musical performance with a whiff of Epidaurus: a “national” sarcasm about Greece, about our arrogance and our insignificance, a sardonic comedy about the real tragedy that happens not in the theatre but out there, in life.

The production is accompanied by the band of the Lygourio and Kranidi Musical Hunting Club, “The Innocent Fox”

Production credits

Concept–Direction: Nikos Karathanos

Text: Lena Kitsopoulou–Yannis Asteris–Nikos Karathanos

Dramaturgy: Marissa TriantafyllidouSets: Eva Manidaki

Costumes: Angelos Mentis

Movement: Amalia Bennett

Music: Angelos Triantafyllou

Lighting: Felice Ross

Video–Assistant director: Orestis Stavropoulos

Video–Assistant director: Dimitris Stavropoulos

Production dramaturg: Eva Saraga

Cast (in alphabetical order):

Haris Alexiou, Thanasis Alevras, Vasiliki Driva, Giorgos Ziakas, Nikos Karathanos, Emily Koliandri, Yannis Kotsifas, Ioanna Latousaki, Christos Loulis, Zeta Makrypoulia, Ioanna Mavrea, Ilektra-Apostolia Barouta, Kostas Berikopoulos, Ioanna Bitouni, Panos Papadopoulos, Elli Paspala, Angelos Triantafyllou, Giorgos Fasolas, Danai-Arsenia Filidou, Galini Hatzipaschali

Musicians on stage: Sofia Efkleidou, Vassilis Mantzoukis, Kostas Nikolopoulos, Dimitris Tigkas, Eleftheria Togia