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There is perpetual power, embodied by Atossa and Xerxes. There is the will to remain on the throne, to overcome the limits. «The Persians» by Aeschylus, the third production of the 61st season of classical plays of the National Institute of Ancient Drama Foundation, is probably the most contemporary of the tragedies on stage this year. An already record-breaking season: between tickets sold and booked, as of May 15th, there were over 171 thousand attendances at the Greek theatre, 32,506 more than on the same date last year.
The director of «I Persiani» is Alex Ollé, one of the founders of the Fura del Baus (the famous Catalan company advocating “total theatre”) with the translation by Walter Lapini. The debut is on June 13th at the Greek theater. «Staging I Persiani today means restoring vitality to a classic that continues to speak to the present, addressing issues such as political tensions, armed conflicts and collective wounds», explains Ollè.
«Power, responsibility, the limit of human ambition. Aeschylus was in Sicily and perhaps this work was born in the Greek theater – continues the director who has just been awarded the Spanish opera Oscars –. The Persians talk about the human being. At this moment with what is happening in Iran, in Russia, we reflect on how after 2500 years it still continues to happen. The value of this text is in the word. Talk about power, how to perpetuate power. They are soldiers, politicians from any country in the world.”
Ollè rereads Aeschylus in a contemporary way without betraying him, «so that the questions posed almost 2500 years ago continue to question our conscience», he says. The Persians are the aggressors: moved by the hubris, the arrogance, the pride of the young Xerxes (played by Massimo Nicolini), who violates the boundaries of nature to attack Greece. Today, those same Persians are the direct ancestors of the Iranians.
«Serse goes beyond the limit – explains Massimo Nicolini –. But beyond that lies the punishment. Aeschylus narrates the story of the Persians, the pain of the Persians and therefore humanizes the enemy. It is the greatest lesson we can learn in this time of great lack of empathy in the world.”
On stage Anna Bonaiuto plays Atossa, the queen mother of Xerxes: «A demanding role due to its complexity and length – says Ollé –. I think of the war in Vietnam: America decided to take it over even if it didn’t know where that territory was. As happens in Atossa.”
Giuseppe Sartori is the messenger, Alessio Boni (in his Greek theater debut) is Dario’s Shadow. «We are faced with the insolence of the powerful that is still there now – says the director -. The healthy ambition that becomes pride. It happens to Xerxes. Never throw away a prosperity to look for a greater one. We are gripped by the thirst for power, for money. And we lose the search for the most important journey which is that of man and woman.”
Marco Maria Casazza will be the leader of the choir formed by Francesco Biscione, Fabrizio Bordignon, Nicola Bortolotti, Rosario Campisi, Francesco Migliaccio, Giovanni Nardoni, Antonello Cossia, Stefano Quatrosi, Michele Cipriani, Rosario Tedesco, Elena Polic Greco, Simonetta Cartia. The show will remain on stage until June 28th and will then be staged at the Teatro Grande in Pompeii, from July 10th to 12th.
The presentation took place at the Ortea Palace Hotel, which until December 31st will host «The Theater between Light and Word», a cycle of events that intertwines culture, art and tradition in the heart of Sicily. Meetings are taking place with the directors and actors involved in this year’s four shows: Antigone, Alcestis, The Persians, Iliad, performances by the students of the Academy of Art of Ancient Drama, and there is a photographic exhibition dedicated to the classical representations of the Greek Theater of Syracuse, in a dialogue “between hospitality and culture, within a shared path of growth, beauty and belonging, capable of strengthening the link between the classical heritage and the present”. Inda’s mission, which goes far beyond installations.