AEF2023: Der Wij (The Viy)

It’s that time of the year again, when Athenians start planning their summer holidays around the programme of the Athens Epidaurus Festival. The leading performing arts festival in Greece, and one of the oldest in Europe, returns between June 1st and August 26th for its 68th edition with a rich programme of events. As always, the main venues are the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the industrial complex of Pireos 260 and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. Click here for our festival picks or head over to the official website for the full programme.

Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov makes his Greek debut with his anti-war play Der Wij. Serebrennikov, who has openly opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has been a daring critic of the Russian government, collaborated with Ukrainian writer Bohdan Pankrukhin on this new production. The Viy (or Der Wij in German) is a deadly creature that appears in Nikolai Gogol’s fantasy-horror novella of the same name. In this production, the Viy becomes the personification of war, and as Serebrennikov puts it “it is a soulless monster with closed eyes that steals people’s identity and futures”. The performers are Russian, Ukrainian, and German and perform their parts in their native tongues.