Irene Papas (Ειρήνη Παπά) talks about "Iphigenia in Aulis" (1967)

RAI CULTURA

A precious film from that period takes us to New York in 1967 at Circle in the Square, one of the most prestigious theaters in Greenwich Village, where Euripides' "Iphigenia in Aulis" is being staged with the great Irene Papas, and directed by Michael Cacoyannis.

The choir moves according to the cadences of modern ballet. Tradition and innovation come together in the design of the costumes. The recitation of the characters is fluid, pervasive, almost modest, including Clytemnestra, played by Papas. The great Greek actress talks about the character she plays, a good, strong, maternal woman who understands the uselessness of the war.

"I am convinced that Greek tragedies are not museum pieces, they represent the great theater, the living theater, which defies the centuries and therefore should not be represented in an old-fashioned way, because that means stifling them, but according to the truth they express, valid today as then, as always". (Michael Cacoyannis)

The director then talks about his passion for Euripides because he is a complex and extraordinarily versatile author: "There is nothing that later authors have discovered that Euripides did not already know. He is an author who belongs to today's consciousness".

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