25 ancient theatres, archaeological sites to open soon in Greece

The Athens Festival institution, in collaboration with the Diazoma association, have taken the initiative of opening 25 ancient Greek theatres and archaeological sites to the public in order to promote the country’s cultural heritage.

Most ancient Greek theatres are scheduled to open over the next few days in order to host various theatrical productions during the summer. As part of the initiative, the 25 ancient Greek theatres and archaeological sites participating, will host a theatrical production of “The Woman of Zante” (“Gynaika tis Zakynthou”) by Dionysios Solomos, directed by Dimos Avdeliodis and Olia Lazaridou in the leading role.

Even though the organizers wanted the initiative to include 30 locations, the Central Archaeological Council of Greece (KAS) deemed that five of these locations could not be used due to renovations or excavations that were underway. The locations that were excluded from the project were: the theatres of Aigeriras, Fthiotidon Thivin and the archeological sites in Eretreia, Dimitriadas and Miezas.

Furthermore, in some cases KAS will only allow a specific number of people to attend the event. For example, in the theatre of Maronia only 350 people will be able to watch the play. In other sites, such as the theatre of Dimitradas, Athens Festival decided that the play would be performed outside the building, as an alternative solution.

Stavros Benos, president of Diazoma said that the implementation of the initiative is “’a great victory. Up until now, ancient theatres remained closed unless renovation work was carried out.”

According to Athens Festival’s schedule, the performances will begin on June 21 in Eretreia.

Author: Ioanna Zikakou | Source: Greek Reporter [June 16, 2014]