1st International Forest Festival
The traditional annual meeting of Thessaloniki’s citizens and visitors that is held every summer at the big open-air
Forest Theatre will be renewed this year.
In addition to the theatre performances, concerts and dance events hosted every year, a two-week International Festival including selected performances from Greece as well as major productions from abroad will be organized for the first time.
From 1 to 14 July 2017, Forest Theatre as well as other NTNG venues will host 7 performances aiming at highlighting important Greek productions (their presentation in Thessaloniki will be organized in collaboration with the
Hellenic Festival) and familiarizing the city’s public with prominent artists and contemporary theatrical approaches from Europe and around the world.
1st International Forest Festival: Side events >
SLOVENIA - Slovensko Ljudsko Gledališče Celje
Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 | Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies | Time: 9:15 pm
Rose Berndby Gerhart Hauptmann
A show that has travelled abroad, presented in international festivals and received outstanding reviews. A classic text in a contemporary staging that is both topical as well as timeless.
SPAIN - Ζero en conducta theatro
Tuesday 4 & Wednesday 5 | Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies | Time: 9:15 pm
Αllegro ma non troppo
(or ...if love is blind... why is it looking at us?)
The production was presented at the International Puppet Theatre Festival of Sofia and has toured all over Europe. A puppet show that uses object theatre and physical theatre techniques.
ROMANIA - Teatrul National IL Caragiale
Wednesday 5 & Thursday 6 | Dassous Theatre (Forest Theatre) | Time: 9:15 pm
The Tempest
Based on the William Shakespeare’s play
Alexander Morfov, the important Bulgarian director, returns to Thessaloniki with a performance of the Shakespearean masterpiece “The Tempest” produced by the National Theatre of Bucharest "Ion Luca Caragiale". In the leading role of Prospero, Ion Karimitrou, the prominent Shakespearean actor and director of the National Theatre of Bucharest.
ISRAEL - Hanut 31 Theatre
Thursday 6 & Friday 7 | Foyer of the Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies | Time: 9:15 pm
Plastic Heroes
Created and performed by: Ariel Doron
The show has travelled to more than 20 cities and festivals in Europe and has received enthusiastic reviews.
POLAND - Teatr Zar Grotowski Institute
Monday 10 & Tuesday 11 & Thursday 13 | Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies | Time: 9:15 pm (10-11/7) | Time: 7:15 pm (13/7)
Medeas. On getting across
Suitable +15
Based on the work of Dimitris Dimitriadis, Yaroslav Fret and Teatr Zar compose a contemporary approach to the old-fashioned myth in a performance -work in progress- which will be presented for the first time outside of Poland.
POLAND - Teatr Zar Grotowski Institute
Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 | Vassiliko Theatre | Time: 9:15 pm
Armine, Sister
Suitable +15
A landmark show of Grotowski Institute’s recent past. It has appeared in dozens of festivals around the world, earning dithyrambic critics.
A masculine, raw, violent world of mutual killing and man-eating, where justice is tantamount to the survival of the fittest. In the land of the Cyclops, the Outsider is neither sheltered nor entertained. Rather, s/he is exploited or devoured. There, one can be neither good nor bad. One can only be either frightened and desperate or merciless and cruel. Euripides’ characters are frivolous, ridiculous, sly, opportunistic, decadent, and savage. They are ridiculed and ridicule others in return. They are crushed and seek to crush others. This purely masculine world is explored through the lens of femininity: through the female body, psychology, and expression. An all-female production which seeks to redress the balance between the serious and the ludicrous, between the genres of splatter horror and comedy.
The text includes excerpts from Odyssey and Theocritus' Cyclops (trans. Pantelis Boukalas).
The International Section of the festival is funded by the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), namely from the Operational Programme of the
Region of Central Macedonia 2014-2020.
For the selection of the productions, a three-member committee has already been formed. The committee’s members are:
Savas Patsalidis, professor and theatre critic,
Maria Tsima, actress and NTNG Deputy Artistic Director and
Amalia Kondoyanni, dramaturg and head of the NTNG Literary & International Relations Office.