News

Hellenic Festival 2001 - press conference text by Mr. Periklis Koukos

4 May 2001

I believe we have been unwavering in the pursuit of the following goals for the Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2001: · A programme with important and high-quality productions, based on the five guidelines I committed myself to following during our meeting in October 2000, when the new Board of the Festival was announced by the Ministers of Development and Culture. · More productions and performances containing events of an original character produced by the Festival itself, thus putting an end to its acting as a mere go-between. · Decrease of the cost of the productions in such a way that, without detracting from quality, economic magnitudes should match those of similar organizations in our country and abroad. · Ensuring the credibility of the programme by signing suitable pre-contracts, in which the financial and technical data of production will be explicitly mentioned. · Creating the necessary conditions for co-operating with artistic institutions of our country in a manner that will lead to mutual trust, a prerequisite for timely and successful planning in the coming years, too. Within the framework of these targets, there have been partial goals in connection with activating the Festival in the whole country, creating the necessary institutions and spreading its artistic activity. For achieving this goal we will proceed to: · Tours of performances to towns and ancient theatres. · The foundation of a choir of the Hellenic Festival, which will participate in its productions. · Initiating a co-operation with the Third Programme of the Greek Radio and Television, which will establish a weekly programme dedicated to the festival. We are also considering the possibility of broadcasting through the Third Programme certain events to countries members of the EBU, which means in effect all European countries, Russia, Canada, Turkey and Israel. *** The programme was planned and completed in 10 weeks. In accordance with these goals and following my propositions, the character of the programme was decided upon by the Festival Board, whose members were kept abreast of its development both orally and in writing. Their approval was unanimous and so was their support of my initiatives in the on-going struggle against time and all inherent problems. Specifically, Athens Festival at the Herodeion: True to the cultural tradition of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the events of the programme can be divided in the following seven cycles, which will remain unaltered in the future: ¨ Symphonic music and great interpreters ¨ Dance (classical and modern) ¨ Lyrical theatre ¨ Greek creation and tradition with Greek interpreters ¨ Modern shows ¨ Theatre (Greek and international) ¨ Special Events. The program is divided in two parts, which last from 8 June to 6 August and from 27 August to 25 September respectively. There will be 51 performances in all. The flow of the programme is designed in such a way that granting third parties the right to use the Festival’s stages will not allow other events to be interpolated and alter its character. The Festival has proposed to the Ministry of Culture to set up a Herodeion Licensing Consultative Committee consisting of well-known personalities in the fields of music, dance and theatre which, in close co-operation with the Festival, will examine all applications for staging performances in the Herodeion and will submit its opinion to the Minister. It is certain that such a step will restore the prestige of the Herodeion and the Festival. Specifically, Epidaurus Festival: The Epidaurus programme includes 9 productions (18 performances), three of which of the state theatres (National Theatre and State Theatre of Northern Greece) and six of the Hellenic Festival. It will cover the period 6 July – 1 September. For 2001 there will also be the following extra events: ¨ A theatrical costume exhibition focusing in particular on older ancient drama productions, in collaboration with the Theatrical Museum. ¨ A presentation of musical compositions specifically written for ancient drama. ¨ A documentary on the subject “An Ancient Drama Production Step by Step”. For 2002 we are considering an International Conference on the subject “Epic and Ancient Drama” in collaboration with the Centre of Research and Practical Applications of Ancient Greek Drama (DESMOI = ‘bonds’). This project is being announced today because the time needed for preparing such a conference is long. As for the principles which will govern future instances of the Epidaurus Festival, we have already embarked on a dialogue with the national theatres and other concerned bodies. The planning will include thematic cycles which will accommodate performances by the national theatres as well as Greek and international performances organized by the Festival. Carrying out such a demanding programme will be difficult. However, I am convinced that both administration and staff will join forces in achieving a result commensurate to the prestige we would like our country and the Festival to command. In this effort, I would like to count on you for support. In October 2000 I had said that having co-operated with the Festival as a creator and having followed its evolution both as a member of the public and as a teacher working with young artists, I had formed in my mind a vision of a prestigious, demanding and focused festival which would be open to the future without betraying its past. I hope that such is the course we have embarked on. The support and the response of the public will be proof of this. Periklis Koukos (Composer, Chairman of the Board)