The 13th International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama, Cyprus

The 13th International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama is now in full swing and to celebrate, we found a copy of Kenneth Mackinnon's book "Greek Tragedy into Film" (1986). The annual festival, running from the 1st to the 31st of July 2009, features artists from places as diverse as Israel, Italy and Romania reinterpreting key Greek dramas. Greek drama continues to find and challenge new forms of performance and media and as such, Mackinnon's book reflects a renewed interest in the interrogration of these newer forms. He writes,

"Many interesting questions are raised by the transference of a highly stylised form such as Greek tragedy to what is often claimed to the 'realistic' medium of film: 'fidelity' appears to be a chimera, and Cacoyannis seems, paradoxically, more 'tragic' than his original, Euripides. What becomes clear is that the heroic myths retain wtih ease the power to move audiences in very different milieux through often strikingly different means".

This month's Drama Festival continues this investigation with new audiences in old spaces. Book your tickets to the National Theatre of Greece's production of Alcestis this weekend and Israel's Herzliya Ensemble's performance of Iphigenia at Aulis early next week. The festival runs across the island at theatres in Paphos, Limassol and Nicsia. For more information see pamphlet or ring 99 542 165.