by Aristophanes

A National Theatre of Greece production for the Athens and Epidaurus festival 2014 was presented in the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, 2014. The play traveled throughout Greece.

The god Dionysus is worried about the lack of poets capable of teaching morality to the Athenians, and so decides to descend into the underworld to bring Euripides back to life. He takes his slave, Xanthias, with him. During the course of their journey, master and slave exchange roles a number of times in an effort to avoid trouble, but on each occasion  things lead to a comic misunderstanding. Arriving at their destination, the travellers witness a furious argument between Euripides and Aeschylus, each of whom is claiming the Throne of Tragedy in Hades. As god of the theatre, Dionysus is appointed judge but the contest is inconclusive. Dionysus final decision is surprising; although he began his journey with the aim of bringing Euripides back to Earth, he finally leaves Hades with Aeschylus.

Creative team:

Translation – direction – adapted by Yannis Kakleas

Set design: Manolis Pantelidakis

Costume design: Eva Nathena

Music design: Stavros Gasparatos

Movement direction and choreography: Christos Papadopoulos

Lighting design: Sakis Birbilis

Music coach: Melina Peonidou

Assistant director: Nurmala Easty

Assistants to the set designer: Elina Drakou, Alegia Papageorgiou

Assistants to the costume designer: Evelina Darzenta, Dafni Kolyva

Dramaturg: Eva Saraga

Cast:

Vasilis Charalampopoulos, Panos Vlachos, Fanis Mouratidis, Evelina Papoulia, Yannis Zouganelis, Laertes Malkotsis, Spyros Bibilas, Stelios Iakovides, Vangelis Chatzinikolaou, Agoritsa Economou,Maria Konstantaki, Socrates Patsikas, Angeliki Trompouki, Konstantinos Gavalas, Myrto Grapsa, Konstantinos Kounelas, Labros Ktenavos, Alexandros Laskaratos, Irene Boutali, Paola Mylona, Alexandra Ousta, Ivan Svitailo, Ioanna Toumpakari, Giorgis Tsouris, Antonis Stroutzas, Eddie Lame.