AEF2023: The Frogs

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.

While Athens goes through a deeply political and cultural crisis, a crisis of institutions and values, Dionysus, god of fertility, wine, and pleasure descends to the Underworld in order to retrieve the seed of resurrection. His plan to save Athens involves bringing playwright Euripides back to life, the only one who can prevent the impending disaster. In his travels, Dionysus brings along his slave, Xanthias, and a bunch of frogs. This short plot description of Aristophanes’ The Frogs barely scratches the surface of the comedian’s splendid study on the very mechanics of theatre itself.