Alyssa GoodmanJuly 25, 2020Petros GiannakourisComment

Ancient Greek theaters return to life in pandemic

Alyssa GoodmanJuly 25, 2020Petros GiannakourisComment

The ancient theater of Epidaurus, renowned for its acoustics, has reopened for a limited number of open-air performances, with organizers planning a live-streamed event Saturday for the first time in its 2,300-year history.

Live concerts and events have been mostly canceled in Greece this summer due to pandemic concerns.

But the Culture Ministry allowed the ancient theaters of Epidaurus in southern Greece and Herodes Atticus in Athens to host performances under strict safety guidelines.

A man enters the ancient theater of Epidaurus, Greece, July 17, 2020, to listen a solo concert by Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

“Only 45% of the seats are occupied, the refreshments areas are closed, there is no intermission, and tickets are only issued electronically,” Maria Panagiotopoulou, an official from the Greek Festival which organized the events, told the AP.

“We normally have 80 performances in the summer. This year, it’s just 17 … We kept changing the plans. We planned for a September start and then we were concerned that all events might be canceled. We ended up with something in the middle. It would have been the first summer without a performance in 65 years.”

Acts from abroad were all abandoned due to the pandemic, and performing artists are instructed not to give encores. Stewards wearing surgical gloves and plastic visors keep spectators apart as they clamber up the steep stone amphitheater steps to find their seats.

Stewards wearing plastic visors stand at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, during a concert, July 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Spectators listen a concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, July 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Just 4,500 places are available at the 10,000-seat Epidaurus Theater, a honeycomb-colored stone venue, its shallow half-funnel shape allowing stage sound to be clearly heard all 55 rows up.

Surrounded by pine-covered mountains of the southern Peloponnese region, the sound of birds and crickets can clearly be heard by the audience, along with protests of those locked out for arriving too late.

Christina Koutra, a musicologist from Athens, said she was happy to make the winding three-hour trip to Epidaurus to watch the season’s first event _ a solo performance of Bach by acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos.

“There is a feeling of harmony here. It’s a sacred place,” she said, leaving the theater with her parents and wearing a face mask.

“Culture cannot stand still. We have to take part and keep it going.”

Due to the pandemic, a one-off livestreamed performance of an ancient tragedy will take place Saturday _ The Persians by ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus and performed by the National Theater of Greece.