The Cyprus Theatre Organisation will stage for the summer Euripides’ The Phoenician Women, directed by Magdalena Zira. Performances in Nicosia and on tour as from the 10th of July 2024. The production is included in the events commemorating 50 years from the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The Phoenician Women, which belongs to Euripides’ late period, was probably written between 410 and 409 BC, in the last tumultuous years of the Peloponnesian War, shortly after the brief but harrowing Oligarchic Coup and the rule of the Four Hundred. It is a drama with a rich plot that traces the legacy of the trauma of war from generation to generation, shedding light on ideas of reconciliation, peace, justice and equality.
The action of the play takes place in the besieged city of Thebes. Seven Argive generals are preparing to attack the city on the instructions of the exiled Polynices, whose brother, Eteocles, has undertaken to defend it. Shortly before the battle, Jocasta hopes to prevent a war by arranging a truce so her sons can meet and reconcile. However, the curse of their father, Oedipus, whom the two brothers have imprisoned to keep the shame of incest hidden, threatens to lead them to mutual fratricide. In the crucible of war, the young Antigone endures a violent coming-of-age, while Creon’s young son, Menoeceus, becomes a model of selflessness. Power constantly changes hands during the play, but the leaders of the city, blinded by their passions, repeat the mistakes of the past. The tragic fall of the House of Labdacus is even more pitiable as it is juxtaposed with the Chorus’s references to the city’s glorious past.
Euripides’ groundbreaking drama condenses all the most known aspects of the Theban Cycle into a single play, along with a number of innovations. What would happen if the fratricide could be avoided, if the war could be stopped, if the interventions of Jocasta and Antigone could deliver the house from the evils of fratricide, war, hubris, and the stain of guilt?
Translation: Nikos Hourmouziadis
Direction-Dramaturgy: Magdalena Zira
Set design-Masks: Dimitris Alithinos
Costume design: Elena Katsouri
Music-Music instruction of Chorus: Yiannis Koutis
Music-Sound design: Antonis Antoniou
Choreography-Movement: Fotis Nikolaou
Video art: Artemis Evlogimenou
Lighting design: Georgios Koukoumas
Assistant to the director: Maria Pisiili
Assistant to the costume designer: Sosanna Tomazou
Cast (in alphabetical order): Prokopis Agathokleous, Dimitris Antoniou, Alexia Alexi, Thanasis Georgiou, Niki Dragoumi, Margarita Zachariou, Andreas Koutsoumbas, Semeli Kyriazi, Marina Mandri, Maria Masonou, Marily Milia, Yiannis Minos, Neoklis Neokleous, Ioanna Papamichalopoulou, Kynthia Pavlidou, Loukas Prokopiou, Spyros Stavrinidis, Stela Firogeni, Annie Khoury, Myrsini Christodoulou
Performances
- Lefkosia
Amphitheatre Makarios III, School for the Blind
Wednesday 10 July 2024
Thursday 11 July 2024
Friday 12 July 2024
Saturday 13 July 2024
- Lemesos
Ancient Theatre of Kourion*
Friday 19 July 2024
Saturday 20 July 2024
- Pafos
Ancient Odeon*
Wednesday 24 July 2024
- Larnaca
Pattihio Municipal Amphitheatre
Saturday 27 July 2024 (within the framework of Larnaca Festival 2024)
- Free Famagusta Area
Municipal Amphitheatre of Deryneia
Wednesday 31 July 2024
All performances begin at 21:00
Surtitled performances:
- Lefkosia
Thursday 11 July 2024 (Greek)
Friday 12 July 2024 (English & Turkish)
- Lemesos
Friday 19 July 2024 (English & Turkish)
*The Ancient Monuments are used with the permission of the Deputy Ministry of Culture.
The production is part of the events marking the 50th tragic anniversary of the Turkish Invasion.
