The cycle of classical representations at the Greek Theater of Syracuse has ended in these days. A great success: four titles (Coefore-Eumedini by Aeschylus in a single show, Le Nuvole by Aristophanes, Bacchantes by Euripides), theater always full within the limits allowed by the legislation for the health emergency (2000 spectators instead of a potential capacity up to 7,000), many foreigners although the works were represented in Italian translation from ancient Greek and there was no possibility of surtitles. A total of about 80,000 spectators. The next season, in 2022, foresees the staging of the entire trilogy of Aeschylus Orestea and two new productions respectively of Oedipus Re by Sophocles and of Ifigenia in Tauride by Euripides. The National Institute for Ancient Drama (INDA) is a cultural reality that works, and in full revival and a pole of attraction for quality tourism, both nationally and internationally. The president of the RepublicSergio Mattarella attended the replica of Coefore-Eumenidi on 19 July, the day of remembrance of the victims of the massacre in via D’Amelio for the attack against the magistrate Paolo Borsellino. An eloquent signal of the importance and significance of classical representations in Syracuse.
The program was enriched by the multimedia exhibition Orestea, second act. The resumption of classical performances at the Greek Theater of Syracuse after the Great War and the Spanish epidemic, open to the public until 30 September 2022 at Palazzo Greco and destined to circulate in other Italian and foreign cities; while until 3 October, at the Regional Gallery of Palazzo Bellomo, the work of Hermann Nitsch, 79.malaktion, image of the communication campaign of the 2021 season, is on display.
And on Orestea act two that it is worth dwelling on also as the exhibition, curated by the Managing Director of INDA Marina Valensise , with the collaboration of the director Davide Livermore, will be seen in various Italian cities. With photographs and multimedia panels, the exhibition evokes the atmosphere and climate in which in 1921 the first biennial and then annual cycle of classical representations began in Syracuse. There had been an experiment-event in 1914, the staging of Agamemnon by Aeschylus, but I remain isolated due to the outbreak of the First Great War and the Spanish epidemic. Of that Agamemnon there remain photographs in collections and, more often, private attics.
The exhibition is not only or mainly the re-enactment of the initiative begun in 1921. It is also a warning for Sicily (and the South) of today. It shows how an enlightened and avant-garde ruling class existed at the time: the aristocracy of Eastern Sicily called together by Count Gargallo and his brother to organize, and finance, classic performances that immediately had a national, not a regional, resonance, given that they were visited. by the King, the Royal House, the Prime Minister and numerous Ministers. In fact, all the intelligentsia of eastern Sicily mobilized for the event, looking for the best talents outside the area: the Venetian archaeologist Paolo Orsi, the Roman Greek scholar Ettore Romagnoli, the Palermo musician Giuseppe Mule, the set designer and Roman visual artist Duilio Cambellotti. Seeing Cambellotti’s scenes and costumes, we return to the belle epoque and art nouveau. Listening to the music of Mule you can relive the “new music”, which made many references to ancient theater, by Gianfrancesco Malipiero and Alfredo Casella.
It is natural to ask: where is an enlightened and avant-garde ruling class hiding today like that of the time
? The experience of the INDA indicates that it exists. It should be encouraged to become more visible.
