Since 2020, the Athens Epidaurus Festival Publications have been blooming.

The philosophy behind the Publications of the Athens Epidaurus Festival extends far beyond merely encapsulating each year’s artistic programme. It also aims at producing independent publications that leave their own, distinct and timeless mark through their dialogue with performing yet also visual arts.

THE 2022 CATALOGUE

This year, as in last year, the crowning glory of this endeavour is the annual Festival Catalogue, constituting an artistic endeavour in and of itself by playfully connecting “the image of the text” with the “text of the image”.

Visually conceived and realised by G Design Studio, guided by the works of artist Jannis Varelas, the just-released, glossy 2022 Catalogue narrates the summer experience of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, in its own visual language. Its colourful pages contain original essays, both in Greek and English, encapsulating and analysing the main themes of this year’s programme (Antigonisms, 400 Years of Molière, Utopia / Dystopia, etc.).

The 2022 Catalogue features texts written by:

Dionysis Kapsalis, Writer, Athens Epidaurus Festival Artistic Advisor for Literature (Children of Oedipus: Pieces for an Antigone Mosaic)

Edith Hall, Professor in the Department of Classics & Ancient History, Durham University (Antigone and the Ancient Greek Tragedy)

Georges Forestier, Emeritus Professor of French Literature, Sorbonne University, 17th-century Theatre Historian (A New Tartuffe 400 years later?)

Stefanie Carp, Dramaturg, Athens Epidaurus Festival Artistic Advisor for International Productions (Utopia and Dystopia)

Ilias Chatzigeorgiou, Dancer, Athens Epidaurus Festival Artistic Advisor for Dance (Dance from Now On: A Guide of Survival / A Guide of Change)

Makis Milatos, Journalist, Radio Producer (The Festival in the Cities and Sounds of the World)

CONTEMPORARY ANCIENTS THEATRE BOOK SERIES

In collaboration with Nefeli Publishing

The Theatre Series books featuring the Contemporary Ancients Cycle plays have also just been released! The Festival’s Theatre Book Series has been meeting with great success since last year: the books were a hit during the festival season and, after the programme’s close, they travelled to the International Book Fairs in Frankfurt and Thessaloniki. This year’s publishing endeavour includes Roots of Cotton by Kallia Papadaki, The Wahncau Case by Elias Maglinis, and You Can’t Tie a Mustang Down by Christos Chomenidis, all commissioned to be staged specifically at the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus, and inspired by Sophocles’ Ajax, and Euripides’ Alcestis and Ion respectively. By shifting focus to the literary dimension of the plays, by producing these elegant editions, the Festival also supports contemporary Greek playwriting both in Greece and abroad, as the original plays in Greek are printed alongside their English translations by distinguished translators. The public may purchase the Theatre Book Series at its designated points of sales and in bookstores!

Artistic Direction Katerina Evangelatos

Series Editor Dimitra Kondylaki

ANCIENT THEATRE OF EPIDAURUS PERFORMANCE BOOKLETS

The Festival publications come to completion with yet another venture highlighting the mark to be left by the Festival’s co-productions – two of which are international – staged at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus: Alcestis, directed by Johan Simons and co-produced with Schauspielhaus Bochum, The Persians, directed by Dimitris Karantzas and co-produced with the “To Theatro” company and ELEVSIS 2023 – European Capital of Culture, and Agamemnon, directed by Ulrich Rasche and co-produced with Residenztheater München. All three works, each in its own way, raises the question of how ancient plays are perceived and transformed for the contemporary stage.

The three, also bilingual, performance booklets, specifically designed to engage the audience’s interest in the issues raised by these plays and their novel approaches on stage, include special directorial and dramaturgical notes, texts by critics and scholars, as well as interviews. The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus booklets encompass contributions by the directors and dramaturgs of the performances, the theatre researcher, critic, and translator Helene Varopoulou (Alcestis), the Assistant Professor at the University of Patras Department of Theatre Studies Agis Marinis (The Persians), and Stefanie Carp (Agamemnon).

Booklets conceived and edited by Dimitra Kondylaki

You may find the booklets at all times at the Festival’s points of sales.

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All publications are supervised by the

ATHENS EPIDAURUS FESTIVAL PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT