After its great success last year, “grape”, the innovative platform of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, is coming back strongly with eight new productions, which are presented to representatives of festivals and cultural organizations from all over the world, in a condensed and exciting five days.
Grape, an acronym for the Greek words Agora of Performance, is the first international “Agora” for the Greek performing arts. It is already, in its second year of operation, an important institution for the systematic promotion and promotion of Greek Theater and Dance on the international artistic scene.
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This initiative has been warmly embraced by both the Greek and international press with references in major foreign publications, such as The Guardian newspaper, Theater der Zeit magazine and Theater Heute magazine.
grape 2024 lasts from July 21 to 25 and includes six theater and two dance performances, included in this year’s artistic program of the Festival.
The selected productions examine critical issues of our time, such as the question of identity – ethnic, racial, sexual -, justice and equality, women’s relationship with motherhood, the rights of immigrants and the impact of modern technology on the formation of human relations.
“Amalia melancholia, the queen of palm trees” by Zoi Hadjiantoniou
In particular, grape 2024 includes the following performances: “Etymologies” by Efthimis Filippou-Aggelis Papoulias (Old Parliament Building, July 18-22), “The Dogs” by Anestis Azas (Piraeus 260- Room H, July 19-21), “Refreshment” by Argyros Chiotis (Piraeus 260- Hall D, July 23-25), “Connection Error” by Yolanda Markopoulos and the Station Athens team (Piraeus 260- Hall B, July 23-25), “Amalia melancholia, the queen of the palm trees” by Zoi Hadjiantoniou (Contemporary Theatre, July 20-22), “Taverna Miresia – Mario, Bella, Anastasia” by Mario Banoussi (Piraeus 260- Room H, July 24-25), “Bless This Mess” by Katerina Andreou (Piraeus 260- Room E, July 23-25), “Borborygmi” by Hara Kotsali (Piraeus 260- Room E, July 19-21).
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The performances of grape 2024 are framed by an open discussion on the particularities, trends and perspectives of contemporary Greek Theater and Dance, as well as the necessity of establishing initiatives to support and promote Greek creativity abroad. The discussion will take place on July 22 (11:00-13:00) at the Goethe Institute and is addressed to curators and representatives of the international scene as well as the Festival audience. Participating are: Savvas Patsalidis, Professor of Theater Studies, Department of English Language and Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (discussion coordinator), Lina Rozi, Assistant Professor at the Department of Theater Studies of the University of Patras and Paraskevi Tektonidou, Artistic Advisor of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, Playwright – Researcher.
This year the grape will welcome more than 50 international representatives of cultural organizations and journalists from 25 countries. Valuable supporters and exclusive sponsors of grape are Mastercard and National Bank.
The grape 2023 shows travel to Europe
The grape 2023 program presented 14 new Greek Theater and Dance works to over 45 directors and representatives of established cultural organizations from 27 countries.
The traveling plays – productions of the Athens Epidaurus Festival 2023 – were presented with great success, leaving great impressions on audiences and critics, and are already being performed at European festivals and theaters.
These are the shows:
“Taverna Miresia – Mario, Bella, Anastasia” by Mario Banushi, presented on May 20 at the Euroregional Theater Festival – TESZT in Timisoara, Romania. It will be presented at the Theater Spektakel in Zurich in August 2024.
“Republic of Baklava” by Anesti Aza
“Baklava Republic” by Anesti Aza, presented on June 6 at the Open The Door Theater Festival in Katowice and on June 8 at the JK Opole Theater in Opole, Poland.
“Silence” by RootlessRoot (Linda Kapetanea, Josef Fruček), presented at the Cyprus International Dance Festival (June 14 in Limassol and June 15 in Nicosia). The show will also be presented in Opole, Poland in September 2024.
“Catastrophe” by Dimitris Babilis of the APARÄMILLON group, which will be presented on July 26 at the Open Air International Theater Festival – PrizrenFest (Kosovo).
“Thebes: A Global Civil War” by Pantelis Flatsousis, which will be presented at the Festival delle Colline Torinesi in Turin next October. The play was also presented at the Open Air International Theater Festival – PrizrenFest in Kosovo in July 2023.
“Spyridoules” by Nefelis Maistralis
“Spyridoules” by Nefelis Maistralis, directed by Thanasis Zeritis and Haris Kremmidas of the 4Frontal group, which was presented in January 2024 at the Nicosia International Festival in Cyprus.
It is worth noting that choreographer Lenios Kaklea’s performance “Agrimi/Fauve”, a co-production of the Athens Epidaurus Festival with international organizations, travels in 2024 to theaters in France, Zurich, London and New York.
Source: www.zougla.gr
