ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare

ROMEO AND JULIET

by William Shakespeare

Director: Dimitris Karantzas

From 4 March 2023

Love as something that springs forth from amidst death and dares to bloom in ugliness. Love as redemption from a world doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Love as the only countervailing force to the absurdity of a strange, violent, spiritually arid age that is disturbingly familiar to us today. William Shakespeare's matchless poetic masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet, comes to the National Theatre of Greece's Main Stage in an inspired production by Dimitris Karantzas.   

On the one hand, life-giving passion and on the other, brutal violence. On the one hand poetry, light and love, and on the other, profanity, darkness and hate. The dramatic love story of Romeo and Juliet, two young people from Verona who dare to love each other despite the fatal enmity that divides their powerful families, is based on an explosive mix of opposites. By setting the action in a space that begins as a place of pleasure and ends as a mass grave, the director illuminates both these divergent trajectories in Shakespeare's work: on the one hand the rot and the decay of a dissolute society that is sinking into the mire, dragging with it everything that pure and beautiful, and on the other, the unstoppable drive of love that moves towards the light. 

“Romeo and Juliet construct their own world of poetry and fantasy and pursue love as an escape from an enmity can last for centuries. When they meet, the lyricism of the encounter creates a haven that is maintained until the end. Love and spirituality are their way out of a decaying society that arranges religious festivals, debauched revels and deaths with equal ease,” notes the director.  

The production highlights Shakespeare's unrelentingly harsh world, mirroring the more dystopian aspects of our own era. An uncompromising social system that defines not only our position but also our identity. An unforgiving world where paternal love is synonymous with violence. A place where, as death encroaches, the space available for love shrinks. Romeo and Juliet's love will be born from a sterile and inhospitable womb, will be suppressed as a sacrilegious rebellion, and will die an early death, but not before indelibly infusing our hearts with an irresistible desire for change. 

Production team

Translation: Dionysis Kapsalis

Director: Dimitris Karantzas

Sets: Maria Panourgia

Costumes: Ioanna Tsami

Movement: Tasos Karahalios

Music: Giorgos Poulios

Lighting: Dimitris Kasimatis

Video: Grigoris Panopoulos

Dramaturg: Eri Kyrgia

First directing assistant: Kelly Papadopoulou

Second directing assistant: Antonis Antonopoulos

Set design assistant: Sofia Theodoraki

Hair design: Konstantinos Koliousis

Cast (in alphabetical order) 

Friar Laurence: Konstantinos Avarikiotis 

Benvolio: Aris Balis 

Juliet: Iro Bezou 

Prince Escalus/Guest: Harry Charalambous-Kazepis 

Balthasar/Servant/Guest: Giannis Charkoftakis 

Capulet: Giannis Dalianis 

Montague/Guest: Giorgos Giannakakos   

Lady Capulet: Anna Kalaitzidou 

Mercutio: Giannis Klinis  

Gregory/Servant/Guest: Antonis Kolovos 

Sampson/Servant/Guest: Thanos Koniaris 

Peter/Friar John/Servant/Guest: Giannis Koravos 

Romeo: Ektor Liatsos 

Lady Montague/Guest: Rita Litou  

Tybalt: Aris Ninikas 

Paris: Manos Petrakis 

Nurse: Reni Pittaki 

Recommended seats for best surtitles viewability: central seats in the stalls & the lower circle