«The tragedy of horror and madness» in Ajax, “contemporary concerns about mental health, unhealthy obsessions and their dangerous outcomes” in Phaedra and “the archetypal fool” in Miles Gloriosus. The three directors chosen by the National Institute of Ancient Drama Foundation for the 59th season of classical performances at the Greek Theater of Syracuse, from 10 May to 29 June 2024, present their shows. Luca Micheletti will direct Sophocles’ Ajax in the translation of Walter Lapini, Paul Curran will be the director of Euripides’ Phaedra (crown-bearing Hippolytus) in the translation of Nicola Crocetti, while Leo Muscato will direct the Latin comedy Miles Gloriosus by Plautus in the translation of Caterina Mordeglia.
Inda celebrates 110 years since the first edition of the classical performances at the Greek Theater of Syracuse with three productions, two Greek tragedies and a Latin comedy. «Aiace is a powerful meditation on the condition of man struggling with his own destiny, uncertain and often senseless – explains Luca Micheletti, at his premiere in Syracuse -. As always in Sophocles, the protagonist is alone, proud, intransigent, but hostage to the whim of the gods. What destroys the hero is not cowardice, but ridicule. Ajax, like Don Quixote, upon awakening from a night of furious massacre chooses self-destruction, because he realizes that he has miserably lost his heroism, that he is now just a man, capable of shameful and grotesque acts.”
Actor, director and opera singer, Micheletti is one of the most eclectic and visionary actors of his generation. «Aiace» (on stage in Syracuse for the fourth time, after 1939, 1988 and 2010) will open the season on May 10th.
Phaedra (staged in 1936, 1956, 1970 and 2010), debuting on 11 May, will be directed by Paul Curran, Scottish, opera and drama director known throughout the world, especially for his creative interpretations of classical works. «The ancient story of Phaedra resonates today with surprising relevance – explains the director, making his debut in the ancient cavea –: it pushes us to ask ourselves whether the gods who govern us reflect our modern mental states or whether our own minds are, in reality, the powerful deities who force impulsive and dangerous behavior.”
The comedy will debut on June 13th Miles Gloriosus by Plautuson stage for the first time at the Greek Theatre, entrusted to Leo Muscatofresh from this year’s success with Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus. «The soldier Pirgopolinice is a boaster, boastful, depraved, braggart, boastful, chauvinist, buffoon, irritating, unpleasant – says the director, who has worked in some of the most important Italian and international theaters -; he is someone who takes the slaps off your hands, but at the same time he is also a fool, who gets laughed at and mocked by everyone. Perhaps this is why in the end he even manages to seem likeable. He is certainly one of the funniest comedy characters ever invented, who has become the archetype of the stupid person who digs his own grave.”