Parabases: William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors

Love, seduction and gender identity, as negotiated by William Shakespeare in four of his most characteristic and entertaining comedies, are the themes of this year's series of dramatized readers' theater.

The world of Shakespearean comedy is a world full of outrageous plots, gender struggles, battles of logic against emotion, endless misunderstandings, passionate love, heroes and heroines who are frantically searching for their identity and their "other half," witty wordplays, epic altercations, irony of fate and sarcasm of the poet, happy endings, as well as a hefty dose of darkness.

The readers' theater performances are staged under the care of four directors of the younger generation, who are distinguished for their highly personalized gaze and method, but also share a love for the texts and for fruitful experimentation with theatrical speech. This year's PARABASES are supported by an expanded ensemble of young actors, who are alternating in the casts to tell complex stories with simple theatrical means and take on the archetypal characters of Shakespearean theatre. The works have been delightfully translated by prominent poets and translators, while artistic director of the series Ektoras Lygizos is also in charge of the dramaturgy and adaptation of the plays.

Saturday 11/03 & Sunday 12/03, 17.00

William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors

A merchant from Syracuse and his servant arrive in Ephesus without knowing that their twin brothers live in the city. A few hours later, and after successive misunderstandings, the lives of all four misguided heroes will be completely overturned.

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick, puns and word play, and it manages to examine in a moving way the crisis of a married couple, but above all another couple: the relationship of our social self with its unknown, dark and invisible side.

Translator: Dionysis Kapsalis
Adaptation: Ektoras Lygizos
Director: Manos Vavadakis

Cast: Manos Vavadakis, Konstantinos Georgalis, Katerina Zisoudi, Konstantinos Zografos, Lambros Konstanteas, Grigoris Ballas, Katerina Patsiani

LIGHTHOUSE

The 12/03 event will be offered with simultaneous interpretation into the Greek Sign Language.

Next performance:

The Taming of the Shrew
Translator: Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke
Director: Eva Vlassopoulos

Artistic Direction:
Ektoras Lygizos

This event comes under a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Alongside the majority of its events, which are free thanks to a series of SNF grants, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center also organizes a number of events with affordable tickets, thus enriching its income sources and securing its long-term financial integrity.