The Thebaide, or the enemy brothers

The famous French playwright uses the myth of Oedipus's offspring, as seen in the tragedies by Euripides and Sophocles, to place at the core of the conflict the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, as exponents of the two extremes in a violent battle for the conquest of power. The subtitle of the play, as given in the original, becomes the guide of an approach that focus- es on the social conflicts of the last years, that could be called “a low civil war”.

But what could be the deepest reservoir of their hatred? Is the Theban Circle, through the ver- sion of Thebaide, a framework for understanding those conditions that lead a family, or a soci- ety, to the violent resolution of their differences? After all, is Roland Barthes right when saying that the two brothers hate each other in the context of complementarity, which does not allow them to understand themselves without the other as an enemy?

Playwriter: Jean Racine
Translation: Andreas Staikos
Direction: Dimitris Bampilis
Sets Costumes: Daphne Aidoni
Music: Gary Salomon
Production Manager: Katerina Kourti
Digital design: Christofili Kontolefa
Lights: Eleni Choumou
Communication: Spyros Betsis

With: Giorgos Vourdamis, Vasiliki Deliou, Odysseas Zikas, Phaedon Kastris, Thanasis Kritsakis, Eirini Kiriakou, Cleopatra Markou