THOK upset at exclusion from Greek festival
THE NEW president of this year’s Epidaurus Festival in Greece has decided not to invite the Theatre Organisation of Cyprus (THOK), in a move that has upset the theatre company, which has participated for decades now in the festival.
The Epidaurus Festival, now in its 50th year, is a two-month summer event in which ancient Greek plays are staged at the ancient theatre at Epidaurus in the Peloponnese. The Epidaurus, along with the Athens Festival, is part of the larger Hellenic Festival.
This year marks the arrival of a new president of the Epidaurus Festival, George Loukos, who has lived in France for the last 30 years. Loukos has announced that this year’s festival will mark a “new period” for the Festival.
But much to the chagrin of the Cyprus theatre community, among these changes is the exclusion of THOK, which has participated in the festival for the last 25 years, according to THOK Director Andy Bargilly.
Bargilly told the Sunday Mail that THOK has protested Loukos’ decision both in person and in writing, and has even contacted President Tassos Papadopoulos about the decision.
“He [Loukos] believes that he has the strength to cut the cultural ties of Greece and Cyprus that have formed over these past 25 years through the Epidaurus Festival,” Bargilly said.
When questioned earlier as to how THOK could be excluded after so many decades of participation, Loukos’ response was that THOK was not included “precisely for this reason: the participation at Epidaurus is not monopolistic.”
But Bargilly took issue with the new president’s response: “What does this mean that it ‘is not monopolistic’? We aren’t one outfit that never changes.
“And by that logic, why doesn’t he exclude the National Theatre of Greece, which has been participating for the past 50 years? By his statement, wouldn’t that be a monopoly?”
This year also marks the inclusion of the National Theatre of Turkey. While Bargilly did not say that the inclusion of the Turkish theatre group was related to the exclusion of THOK, he felt that it was “unfortunate that Cyprus is now leaving when groups outside of Greece are participating, especially seeing that theatre brings peoples together.”
The THOK Director said he believed that Loukos was “pressured from certain places that Cyprus not take part,” although he did not want to go into further details.
An excerpt from the Epidaurus website recounting the festival’s history reads as follows: “More companies were added in the 1980’s. Among them… the Cyprus Theatre Organisation, which earned unanimous praise with Euripides’ Suppliants, directed by Nikos Haralambous.”
If THOK had been invited to participate at Epidaurus, it would have performed Aristophanes’ The Ecclesiazusae. THOK will perform The Ecclesiazusae on July 19 at Lycavitos Theatre at Herodeion, also part of the Hellenic Festival.
Explanations sought
GREEK Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has been asked by PASOK Deputy Andreas Loverdos to explain why the organisers of the Epidaurus Festival have decided to exclude THOK from the event for the first time in 25 years.
He claimed it was clear the decision enjoyed Karamanlis’ backing and had created negative reactions in both Cyprus and Greece. The inclusion for the first time of the Turkish National Theatre had induced an even stronger feeling of distaste, Loverdos said in a letter to the Prime Minister.
