Hellenic Festival, June, July, August 2011
The Hellenic Festival belongs to some of the world's most powerful culture celebration events - not only for the sheer scope of it (theatre and dance performances, recitals, cross-genre events, exhibitions and creative workshops are held throughout the three summer months, bringing together under the same roof the Athens Festival and Festival Epidaurus) but also thanks to the quality of the programme and the choice of participants. During the more than half-century of its existence, the Hellenic Festival has brought to Athens the best accomplishments of contemporary art - at some time or other, most of the living greats have presented their works here. The festival is open both to traditional art forms, for instance, opera, classical music and ballet, and the latest experiments in art.
The real crowd-pullers of this year's festival include the latest piece by the French director Ariane Mnouchkine, Les Naufragés du Fol Espoir (Survivors of the Mad Hope), based on a posthumously published novel by Jules Verne. Ariane Mnouchkine's legendary Théâtre du Soleil has lost none of its power and magnificence even after forty years of existence and world fame. Free of the mundane, free of trivia and trifling details, it focuses on the joint course of the human soul and the world. Mnouchkine's 'Theatre of Sun' combines acting techniques borrowed from different cultures, the joy of undisguised theatricality and a desire to speak of great and sublime matters. The secret of the phenomenon that is Théâtre du Soleil may partly lie in its fascinating lightness; after four hours' worth of watching, the spectator goes back to the real life much invigorated and well rested, fortified with a dose of positive spirit. Ariane Mnouchkine is a theatre genius; the universe she has created is sometimes referred to as children's theatre for grownups, and that certainly has to do with the fact that the great artist has retained her childlike ability to be surprised at things.
The theatre language of the master of the unreal, alchemist of dreams and classic of American avant-garde Robert Wilson also has a lot in common with miracles. In his latest production at the Berliner Ensemble, his version of Frank Wedekind's Lulu, Robert Wilson has teamed up with the American songwriter Lou Reed and the great Angela Winkler who is sometimes called an actress of exception: her stage existence defies the pigeonholing practised by theatre reviewers. An art event is guaranteed - which is also true of any encounter with Sylvie Guillem, a vivid and unique exception in the world of contemporary dance. A dancer who naturally transcends the limitations of specific genres, Guillem is equally brilliant as a classical dancer and in her appearances in the most radical projects by today's leading contemporary choreographers. With her debut in Swan Lake at the age of 19, Rudolph Nureyev opened the door to the ballet elite of the Paris Opera for her, and Guillem became the youngest principal dancer in the ballet company. Since then, she has worked with many great choreographers and theatre directors famous for their distinctive style: Rudolph Nureyev, Maurice Béjart, William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Akram Khan, Robert Wilson. The alchemist of the Canadian theatre Robert Lepage featured Sylvie Guillem in his Eonnagata, a piece focusing on the male and female elements of the human nature. According to Lepage, one of the dancer's most unique qualities is her physical strength and athleticism: there is a touch of the masculine energy even to her grace and surprising lightness of movement.
In Greece, Sylvie Guillem is appearing in three new pieces created for the unique artist by three outstanding contemporary choreographers: Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Jiři Kylián.
Another work travelling to Greece this summer is the final part of the London-New York Bridge Project, Sam Mendes' version of Shakespeare's Richard III starring Kevin Spacey in the title role.
The festival showcases a selection of works by the most prominent local theatre figures; the representatives of the Greek performing arts range from legendary classics to the latest creative experiments by contemporary Greek dance artists.
Festival Epidaurus offers an opportunity to explore Greece as the birthplace of the theatre: every year a significant place in the programme is taken by new stage versions of classical Greek plays. The performances are held at Epidaurus, one of the world's most beautiful venues; the theatre, built in 4th century BC, saw the ancient tragedies performed at the time when the plays were freshly written and competed among themselves in front of an audience of 14 thousand spectators - that is the number of people for which the open-air amphitheatre with a view of a magnificent mountain landscape and unique acoustic properties - viewers sitting in the last row hear every word spoken on the stage - was originally designed. The programme comprises a selection of classical tragedies and comedies, as well as a number of contemporary sequels to the „Greek cause".
Festival programme: www.greekfestival.gr
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