William Shakespeare: King Lear National Theatre of Greece

William Shakespeare: King Lear – National Theatre of Greece
4740 Views0 Comments

Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear comes to the Main Stage of the National Theatre of Greece, with Yannis Houvardas introducing us to a world in which power means everything and challenging it leads nowhere.

The play charts Lear’s journey into darkness, inner desolation and madness, following his decision to abdicate and divide his kingdom between his three daughters. The tragedy that unfolds will leave none of the protagonists unscathed.

Written in 1608, Shakespeare’s bleakest work deals with the question of power, the decline that comes with its loss, and the complexities of family relationships. Assisted by a multi-layered set design that extends into the bowels of the Ziller Building and embraces the art of cinema with extensive use of live video, the director plunges us into the mind of Lear: a man who has casually surrendered his authority, a child who seeks in vain to be reunited with his mother, and a stiff-necked patriarch who upholds a rigid code not unlike that of a criminal organisation.

Taking the translation of Dionysis Kapsalis as his starting point, and with a band of three musicians and a large company of established and younger actors, Yannis Houvardas offers his own reading of King Lear in a production in which the audience, just like the main characters of the tragedy, will take part in a grim mind game, and in which the boundaries between theatrical experience and cinematic illusion are as blurred as the line that separates reason from madness in the phrases uttered by the deposed king’s Fool. The role of Lear is played by Leonidas Kakouris.

Translation
Dionysis Kapsalis
Adaptated and directed by
Yannis Houvardas
Dramaturgical advisor, production dramaturg
Erie Kyrgia
Set design
Eva Manidaki
Costume design
Ioanna Tsami
Music
Gary Salomon
Movement
Markella Manoliadi
Video
Pantelis Makkas
Lighting design
Eliza Alexandropoulou
Sound design
Daphni Farazi
Fight choreography
Kris Radanov
Directing assistant
Iliana Antoniadou
Directing assistant
Despina Lardi
Directing assistant
Amalia Tsekoura
Directing assistant
Nina Frantzeskaki
Set design assistant
Katerina Vlahbey
Costume design assistant
Alexandra Delitheou
Second costume design assistant
Vasiliki Sourri
Lighting design assistant
Marietta Pavlaki
France, the King of France
Michalis Afolayan
Curan/Duke of Burgundy
Giorgos Giannakakos
Duke of Albany, married to Goneril
Pantelis Dentakis
Regan, Lear’s second daughter
Anthi Efstratiadou
Fool, attendant on Lear
Minos Theocharis
King Lear
Leonidas Kakouris
Goneril, Lear’s eldest daughter
Alexia Kaltsiki
Cordelia, Lear’s youngest daughter
Ioanna Kolliopoulou
Earl of Gloucester
Errikos Litsis
Aboyami, a follower of the King of France
Kostas Loules
Earl of Kent, Lear’s right hand
Giannis Dalianis
Edgar, Gloucester’s elder son
Argyris Xafis
Edmund, Gloucester’s younger bastard son
Giorgos Papageorgiou
Iceman, Lear’s soldier
Kris Radanov
Salva, a follower of Albany
Konstantinos Siozos
Duke of Cornwall, married to Regan
Alekos Sissovitis
Oswald, Goneril’s steward
Giorgos Triantafyllidis
Imma, a follower of Cordelia
Amalia Tsekoura
Barbosa, a follower of Cornwall
Haris Tsitsakis
Mechanica, a mysterious figure in the world of machines
Nina Frantzeskaki
On-stage musicians
Nikos Liaskos, Vangelis Paraskevaidis, Gary Salomon
On-stage camera operators
Dimitris Papadopoulos, Sibylle Meder
Comments are currently closed for this article
en_GBEnglish
Select the fields to be shown. Others will be hidden. Drag and drop to rearrange the order.
  • Image
  • SKU
  • Rating
  • Price
  • Stock
  • Availability
  • Add to cart
  • Description
  • Content
  • Weight
  • Dimensions
  • Additional information
Click outside to hide the comparison bar
Compare