The theatrical performance “The initiation of Neoptolemos” : From the Silence of the Display Case to Living Theatrical Voices
PERFORMANCES : 8, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29 November & 4, 6 December, 2016
Sophocles’ play ‘Philoctetes’ shows how the youthful Neoptolemos, son of Achilles, is initiated into adulthood. Acting as teacher, Odysseus oversees the young man’s first labour – he will become a man if he is cunning enough to entrap the savage Philoctetes.
The piece is a commentary on the scene on an Attic red-figure vase of the mid-5th century BCE — a youth is seen as he departs for war. So, is it a realistic representation of a common event? Or is there perhaps a subtle reference to the ritual of initiation, a process with great significance for male Athenian citizens before they were seen as men?
Director: Stratis Panourios
Costume manager: Myra Vazaiou
Acted by Dimitris Imellos, Stathis Koikas, Elena Marsidou and Stratis Panourios.
The museum exhibit will be presented by Irini Papageorgiou, Curator of the Prehistoric, Ancient Greek, and Roman Collection.
