As the world rediscovers ‘The Odyssey,’ disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
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EPIDAURUS, Greece (AP) -- As Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" renews global fascination with Homer, a cast of disabled and non-disabled performers in Greece is staging the war's other story.
It's not about the triumph of returning heroes, but the suffering they left behind.
"The Trojan Women," with a cast of 22, was staged at Epidaurus, the ancient open-air stone arena in southern Greece. It marked what organizers called the first fully accessible performance in the ancient theater's 2,300-year history.
While Homer followed warriors sailing home from Troy, the playwright Euripides -- writing some three centuries later -- turned to the city's ruins and its women, forced into exile and enslavement.
The ancient theater offered a full range of accessibility services for the Aug. 2 performance. Blind audience members received Braille programs, tactile models and live audio description, while deaf spectators followed overhead titles. Physical adaptations also improved access throughout the site.
"It's the first time a performance at Ancient Epidaurus has been made accessible to everyone," said Greg Polychronidis, a Paralympic gold medalist who attended the event. "Today was a celebration of equality and it should serve as an example for everyone, forever."
For many of the performers, standing on the ancient stage was itself part of the message: a voice for those often overlooked. Eirini Kourouvani, a 58-year-old cast member who uses a wheelchair, had never set foot inside the theater before.
"It is just grand," she said. "I feel my heart opening up as wide as this theater is."
The National Theater of Greece produced the performance, and accessibility services were designed by the nonprofit Liminal with financial support from Greece's Alpha Bank.
Argyro Chioti, the National Theater's artistic director, said the production should become the norm rather than the exception.