Athens Epidaurus Festival 2026

Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus

Friday 28 August 2026
Saturday 29 August 2026

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The Cyprus Theatre Organisation presents Ion by Euripides at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, in a new translation, directed and dramaturgically adapted by Thomas Moschopoulos. Closing this year's Epidaurus Festival on 28 and 29 August, the production brings to the stage one of Euripides' least frequently performed plays.

With an outstanding creative team and an exceptional cast, Ion unfolds on the threshold between tragedy and comedy, myth and realism, mysticism and scepticism. At its heart lies the question of identity and belonging, engaging directly with the contemporary experience, in which established certainties are constantly challenged and renegotiated. The leading roles are performed by Stela Fyrogeni as Creusa, Neoklis Neokleous as Xuthus and Giannis Tsoumarakis as Ion.

Innovative and subversive, Ion is one of the very few surviving ancient Greek dramas with a happy ending, while also being one of the works in which comic and tragic elements are so intricately intertwined. As the director observes:

"As both concept and structure, Ion is closer to comedy than tragedy. It is as though Euripides deliberately left something wide open—a dramatic potential that would later evolve into something else."

The play exposes the tensions between the private and the public, myth and reality, while exploring themes such as identity, legitimacy, class struggle, deception, sexual violence, imposed authority, and the morality of both gods and rulers. Rather than focusing on heroic kings, Euripides places at the centre of the drama an abused woman and her illegitimate child, revealing the hidden compromises and moral ambiguities of the ruling elite while openly questioning the supposedly flawless authority of the gods.

In a society that has wrestled—from Euripides' time to our own—with questions of morality, legitimacy, justice and the rule of law, Moschopoulos' staging invites audiences to dismantle inherited assumptions and engage in critical reflection. Ultimately, the play's resolution foreshadows the glorious future of Ion, the mythical ancestor of the Ionian people.

Following a carefully curated presence at Epidaurus over the years, Thomas Moschopoulos returns to the ancient theatre with an "unusual" and profoundly human-centred work, highlighting its playful, ironic and deliberately ambiguous tone. Ion marks only his fourth production at Epidaurus, following Alcestis (2009), The Trachiniae (2013), and Iphigenia among the Taurians (2018), as well as his fourth staging of a Euripidean tragedy, alongside The Bacchae (Piraeus 260, 2008).

The production also marks his second collaboration with the Cyprus Theatre Organisation, following the acclaimed production of The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol during the 2024–25 season in Nicosia.

The set and costume design are by Moschopoulos' long-time collaborator, the award-winning Vassilis Papatsarouchas. Original music is composed and performed live on stage by the groundbreaking Nicosia-based artist Nama Dama (Anastasia Demetriadou), while movement and choreography are created by Fotis Nikolaou, whose distinguished career includes numerous major collaborations. In contrast to Euripides' original text, where the Chorus consists solely of Creusa's attendants, this production features a mixed-gender Chorus, a choice that reflects the director's contemporary interpretation.

The play

The action of Ion takes place at Apollo's sacred oracle in Delphi. Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, the mythical founder of Athens, arrives there with her husband Xuthus after years of childlessness, seeking guidance from the oracle.

Attempting to steer events towards a predetermined order, Apollo falsely reveals to Xuthus that the first young man he encounters upon leaving the sanctuary is his son. That young man is Ion, an attendant of the temple of unknown parentage, who has been raised at Delphi under the god's protection.

The truth, however, is far darker. Ion is the son of Creusa and Apollo, conceived through an act of sexual violence that Creusa has long sought to bury in silence and oblivion. As one revelation follows another, she is forced to confront the trauma, rage and profound sense of injustice that have haunted her for years. The play culminates in the recognition between mother and son, while Athena intervenes to restore order and foretell Ion's future as the legendary forefather of the Ionian people.

Production

Direction-Translation-Adaptation: Thomas Moschopoulos
Associate Director: Marios Kakoullis
Set, Costume & Director of Visual Identity Design: Vassilis Papatsarouchas
Original Music – Sound Design – Vocal Coaching: Nama Dama
Movement & Choreography: Fotis Nikolaou
Lighting Design: Georgios Koukoumas
Assistant Set & Costume Designer / Special Costume Props: Orestis Lazouras
Production Associate: Eleni Nikolaou

Cast

Giannis Tsoumarakis – Ion
Stela Fyrogeni – Creusa
Neoklis Neokleous – Xuthus
Valentinos Kokkinos – Old Man

Vasilis Athanasopoulos, Dimitris Antoniou, Ioannis Varvaresos, Grigoris Georgiou, Nikolas Grammatikopoulos, Maria Drakou, Margarita Zachariou, Ioanna Kordatou,Theofanis Kosmas, Andreas Koutsoftas, Marian Kyprianou, Dimitris Lagoutis, Pella Makrodimitri, Theofilos Manologlou, Athina Moustaka, Christos Papadopoulos, Christina Papadopoulou, Ioanna Papamichalopoulou, Chris Spyrou, Maria Tsiakka, Vasilis Charalambous.

Musicians on Stage

Nama Dama, Nikolas Tsangaris, Zinonas Oikonomidis

Performances in Cyprus

Nicosia
Makarios III Amphitheatre, School for the Blind
Thursday, 16 July 2026
Friday, 17 July 2026
Saturday, 18 July 2026

Larnaka
Patticheio Municipal Amphitheatre
Wednesday, 22 July 2026 (in the framework of the Larnaka Festival 2026)

Limassol
Ancient Theatre of Kourion
Friday, 24 July 2026

All performances begin at 9:00 p.m.