grape

Greek Agora of Performance

grape – Greek Agora of Performance, the first Agora for the Greek Performing Arts launched last year by the Athens Epidaurus Festival, aims to establish a platform for the promotion of Greek creation to the international Theatre and Dance scene.

Specifically, grape gives the opportunity to artists working in Theatre and Dance to present their works to representatives and artistic directors of international festivals and cultural institutions abroad, as well as to the general public of the Festival. Sending Greek artists abroad has been one of the Festival’s main objectives and the conception of the initiative to “export” Greek works had already been announced since 2020.

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For this name we were inspired by Dionysus, god of Vine and Theatre, the exhilarating effect of Art, Greek summer and grapes, a fruit that is shared sometimes as fruit, sometimes as wine and has been associated with our passionate and heated conversations following the end of Festival performances.

grape takes place annually as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival showcasing new Theatre and Dance performances by artists who live and work in Greece. These productions –that premiere at the Festival– focus on contemporary dramaturgical explorations and themes that are of international artistic concern, and are flexibly designed so they can travel.

grape – Greek Agora of Performance returns for a second year as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival on 21 – 25 July 2024 with eight powerful Theatre and Dance performances.

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The selected productions investigate the question of identity –national, racial, and sexual– and that of citizenship, justice, and equality; they delve into women’s relationship with their bodies and motherhood, migration, and the impact of modern technology on the shaping of human relationships, and also explore the search for hope and stability, as well as the joy of togetherness in a world marked by a universal sentiment of uncertainty, alarm, and seclusion.

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In some way, all the works raise the question: Can we briefly reverse our view of the world? Touching on political and social issues or existential ones through a more poetic perspective, by means of myth or folk tradition, these selected pieces of Theatre and Dance shed light, each in its own artistic language, on our relationship with today’s reality and call us to challenge the stereotypes of our everyday lives.

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The performances of grape 2024 will be presented to international representatives, as well as the Festival’s audience, in one condensed 5-day session of Greek creativity. The programme will be complemented by networking events, panel discussions, and other festival activities. Its full version will be announced soon.

To request further information about the platform contact us via the email: showcase@aefestival.gr.

Performances

THEATRE

THEATRE

Ta skylia / The dogs

DANCE

THEATRE

DANCE

THEATRE

THEATRE

THEATRE