War’s effects on the individual
The next play to be staged at the Herod Atticus Theater over the weekend is the Municipal Regional Theater of Patras’s production of Euripides’ tragedy «Iphigenia at Aulis.» Along with «The Bacchae,» it is one of the ancient playwright’s last plays (it is thought to have been written around 406 BC), and it relates the events that lead Iphigenia to sacrifice herself. In the tragedy, Euripides focuses on the idea of Iphigenia’s willing sacrifice, a decision she makes because she sees her action as necessary to unite all Greeks against the enemy. It is this idea that defines the manner in which the themes of the play are developed in order to broach the subject of the victims of war on the most personal, individual level. The creative combination of old and new, of tradition and the reality of modern times, and the image of people who build their futures on the ruins of the past, are but some of the themes addressed in the tragic poet’s play. Euripides deals with Iphigenia’s sacrifice from the perspective imposed upon him by the social and political circumstances of his time, while he provides no answer to the question he poses: whether achieving a political goal is more important than a person’s right to life, or vice versa. The cast The Municipal Regional Theater of Patras production, which features in the program of the respected Hellenic Festival, is using a translation of the play by K.H. Myris. The performance is directed by Themis Moumoulidis, who also serves as artistic director of the theater company, which received public acclaim at the same festival last year with a production of «Electra.» The sets and costumes are designed by Giorgos Patsas and the music is by Giorgos Andreou, while the lead roles are played by Stelios Mainas, Giorgos Velentzas, Yiannis Dalianis, Alexandra Sakellaropoulou and Karyofyllia Karabeti. «Iphigenia at Aulis» will be staged at the Herod Atticus Theater (Dionysiou Areopagitou, Acropolis) today and tomorrow. Tickets are available at the Hellenic Festival Box Office, situated at 39 Panepistimiou (tel 210.928.2900). The performance starts at 8.30 p.m.
