Invited by the Aranya Theater Festival, the director and Artistic Director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, Katerina Evangelatou presented an adaptation of Hippolytus for four actors and one musician, in the seaside area of Qinhuangdao, outside Beijing, in an impressive new building, literally inside the water.

The actors Maria Skoula, Elena Topalidou, Yannis Tsortekis and Orestis Chalkias participated in this special performance, while the musician Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis was also on stage, collaborating in this adaptation of the Euripidean drama with his evocative musical composition.

The performance was presented for 3 shows on 28 and 29 June 2024, thrilling the audience that filled the Aranya Community Hall to capacity. In the last presentation, about 50 spectators watched the performance standing.

Aranya Festival is a dynamic new festival in China that this year hosted big names of the international scene in its many different theatre venues: Milo Rau, Tiago Rodrigues, Emma Dante, Constanza Macras and Olivier Py are among the creators who presented their works there.

The general theme of this year’s event was “Exception and Rule” and in this context Katerina Evaggelatou was also invited to participate in a public discussion with distinguished members of the Festival’s artistic direction, director Yang Ting and actor and director Cheng Minghao. The discussion was attended by a plethora of young professionals from the theatre arts, and among the topics that attracted particular interest was the legacy of ancient drama, with an emphasis on its evolution and feedback from new approaches.

Evaggelatou spoke about the challenges of managing one of the most historic festivals in Europe and was asked to answer both about the process of her directing practice and the contemporary readings of ancient drama, as reflected in the Festival’s programming, with emphasis on Epidaurus.

“This invitation came from the Aranya Festival with the aim of introducing the Chinese audience to the words of the ancient Greek dramatists. So we prepared a new adaptation, which was staged especially for this venue. It was a great pleasure for me to try a new form and experiment with my collaborators on Euripides’ play in a site specific performance for only 4 actors and a musician on stage. The unobstructed view of this particular building towards the sea composed a natural setting of unparalleled charm that intertwined with the water element of the play contributing to the dramaturgy, while the natural sounds of the waves married with the music of Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis creating an atmosphere that will be unforgettable to all of us who were present. As for the response of the audience, it was really touching” said Katerina Evaggelatou.