Epidaurus Lyceum International summer school of ancient drama is an educational programme of one of Europe’s oldest and most renowned arts festivals, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture and accredited by the Theatre Studies Department of the University of the Peloponnese with 5 ECTS credits.

The programme is a 15-day intensive experiential programme focused in ancient Greek drama and the contemporary performer, taking place in Epidaurus, motherland of the famous ancient theatre and a unique place of natural beauty and energy.

Specially designed for those studying acting, performance and dance (at an undergraduate or postgraduate level) as well as young actors and dancers from all around the world, the Epidaurus Lyceum has managed to become an educational summer destination where participants have the unique opportunity to approach a variety of acting methods, participate in ensemble performances and presentations, attend theoretical workshops and masterclasses on ancient drama and watch performances taking place at the ancient performance venues of Epidaurus.

In 2019, the programme will run for a third consecutive year from the 2nd to the 16th of July, under the thematic axis Reinventing ancient drama on the contemporary stage. This year´s practical and theoretical workshops, lectures and masterclasses will offer experiential practice and knowledge reflecting the many different forms through which ancient drama has been reinvented as a performative form through the centuries, how it has interacted with multiple other art forms (music, visual arts, cinema, literature) and how it can appeal to contemporary audiences while retaining its style, ethics and political content.

Students´ daily schedule includes: a) a morning two-hour physical training workshop, b) a five hour practical workshop in acting or movement, as well as evening lectures, theoretical or practical workshops, attending performances at the ancient theatres of Epidaurus during the programme and other educational or cultural activities. Students attend one of the offering daily practical workshops and are assigned to it according to their level of knowledge and expertise and the workshop needs (for example, a balanced number of male and female participants, the criteria set by the workshop teachers, etc.).

Among 2019´s Epidaurus Lyceum practical workshop teachers are: Jean-Jacques Lemêtre, prominent musician, composer and collaborator of Ariane Mnouchkine´s Théâtre du Soleil ; Xu Jiali, actor and professor of Chinese opera at the Shanghai Theatre Academy; Ichinosuke Umekawa, Kabuki theatre performer; Kamila Klamut performer, director, co founder of Teatr Zar and collaborator of the Grotowski Institute; Christiane Pohle, acclaimed theatre director and programme director at the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg; Gabriele Vacis, well renowned theatre director, playwright and theorist; Vangelis Theodoropoulos,theatre director and artistic director of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival and Anastasis Sarakatsanos, music composer and teacher.

Lectures, masterclasses and theoretical workshops will be led by Efimia Karakantza, tenured Assistant Professor at the Department of Philology, University of Patras; George Sampatakakis, Assistant Professor at the Department of Theatre Studies, University of Patras and Georgina Kakoudaki, theatre director, theatre theorist and co curator of the Educational Programmes of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, among other visiting scholars and artists.

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