"Antigone" - premiere in the "Theater of the Moon" with the participation of Greek actors

MOSCOW. Spectators who attended the premieres of the play "Antigone", staged in the capital’s "Theater of the Moon" directed by Alexander Smolyakov, were able to completely immerse themselves in the world of ancient Greek myth. This was facilitated not only by unusual scenery and costumes created by the artist Konstantin Rozanov, music by the Greek composer Nikos Ksantulis, but also by the text of the play, sounding in two languages - Russian and Greek.

The main roles in the play are performed by Greek actors. In the role of Antigone, viewers saw actress Theodora Giannitsy, director of the cultural center of Greece, located in Moscow. The role of Tsar Creon was played by Euclid Kurdzidis, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, who is Greek by birth.

The play was based on the classic version of Sophocles’s play, translated by Faddei Zelinsky, but the director processed it in such a way that the production became very dynamic, taking only an hour and a half. Excerpts from the choir’s performance were removed, but all the main points of the tragedy were preserved. All the text in Greek is inserted into the play so that the audience understands what the actors are talking about.

The inclusion of Greek, as well as in certain moments of the ancient Greek language, was done not only to give what is happening on the stage the atmosphere of ancient Hellas, but also to add exoticity to the performance. The director created the play as an international project. In the future it is planned to show it to Greek viewers.

Directors often turn to antique plays with a desire for their modern reading. The conflict in Antigone may look like a personal tragedy, or you can give it political significance. Alexander Smolyakov left the conflict in the background, he performed another task - he recreated on the stage the spirit of ancient tragedy, the spirit of Hellas.

Ludmila Trautmane © Gallerix.ru