THE PHILIPPI FESTIVAL TRAVELS TO THE THE GREEK NATIONAL OPERA. THE-POWER-OF-GARDENING. BRITISH LIBRARY.

 Alternative Stage

Festival

The Philippi Festival travels to the Greek National Opera

A co-production with the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala

• 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 Sep 2025

Festival
GNO Orchestra Hall & GNO Backstage – SNFCC
12, 13, 14 September 2025 • Starts at: 18.00, 19.30, 21.00
GNO Orchestra Hall & GNO Backstage – SNFCC
15, 16 September 2025 • Starts at: 19.00
At sea, along the Piraeus-Egina route

Duration: 70 minutes (single performance)

 

Alternative Stage Founding Donor

 

Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera

 

 

 

The Greek National Opera launches a collaboration with the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala, aiming to strengthen its network of partnerships with organizations across Greece and support new artistic creations. As part of this collaboration, four new productions – all commissioned from emerging creators – from this year’s 68th Philippi Festival, which is organized by the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala, will meet the Athenian audience and beyond. 

Three of these performances will be held at alternative locations within the GNO at the SNFCC, bringing the audience in direct contact with site-specific works by emerging artists. The fourth production will take place at sea, along the Piraeus – Egina route, transforming the ship into a stage and turning the journey into a memorable experience. Inspired by the life and work of Chronis Missios, a literary figure and member of the Greek Resistance from Kavala, to whom this year’s Festival is dedicated, the performances engage in open dialogue with the institution’s theme, connecting speech, music, and performance to the space and the audience.

 More specifically, the productions included in the Philippi Festival are:

(Tree)²
GNO Backstage  – SNFCC
12, 13, 14 September 2025 • Starts at: 18.00
Concept, direction: Vasilis Apostolatos • Music: Michalis Paraskakis • Dramaturgy: Zoe Xanthopoulou • Sets, lighting design: Vasilis Apostolatos | Cast: Danai-Arsenia Filidou, Anastasis Georgoulas

The production (Tree)², inspired by the life and work of Chronis Missions, brings two young people—a boy and a girl—on stage, each trapped in different places, times, and confinements. In a world where the lines between fantasy and reality blur, the heroes discuss, clash, and seek freedom, negotiating memory, the body, life, death, and the very concept of freedom.

We would like to thank Alexandros Stavropoulos for his valuable assistance.

 

 

 

 

Rodez Theatre Group
The Infallibility of One (1) DaisY
Every seed has the potential to become a tree
GNO Orchestra Hall – SNFCC
12, 13, 14 September 2025 • Starts at: 19.30
Text: Chronis Missios • Direction: Sonia Kalaitzidou, Marios Kritikopoulos • Dramaturgy: Rodez Theatre Group • Music, onstage musician: Nikitas Kissonas • Movement, choreography: Nikolas Hatzivasiliadis • Set, lighting design: Vasilis Apostolatos • Costumes: Alexandra-Anastasia Ftouli | Cast: Nikos Yalelis, Marios Kritikopoulos, Anthi Savvaki, Electra Sarri

Inspired by the life and literary oeuvre of Chronis Missions, the performance The Infallibility of One (1) DaisY – a commission by the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala – recounts the brief story of a great man, a romantic fighter. Using the body, voice, and technology as tools, four narrators and a musician portray fragments of struggles, dreams, and disappointments on stage. A romantic story from an old time quite resembling our own.

 

 

 

Rock + Thread + Heart =
A scenic dream fantasy inspired by Mount Pangaion
GNO Backstage – SNFCC
12, 13, 14 September 2025 • Starts at: 21.00
Concept, direction, texts, lighting design: Michalis Angelidis • Original music, sound design: Nikos Sotirelis • Sets, costumes, special constructions: Afroditi Psychouli | Cast: Michalis Angelidis, Dimitris Galanakis

This production is a hybrid of modern dance, theatre, and performance that reimagines myths, customs, and local ecological narratives. It draws on the collective imaginary surrounding Mount Pangaion, which comprises the Dionysian tradition, the presence of Orpheus, landscape transformations, and local customs such as “Arapides” and “Babo.” Two performers and a female chorus create a new stage mythology, where the human and non-human elements co-exist.

 

 

 

(All) those things we leave behind < for a tomorrow that will never come
A performance at sea / an experience for the desires that never reached port.
15, 16 September 2025 • Starts at: 19.00
Concept, direction: Marios Kakoullis • Text, associate dramaturg: Eri Kyrgia • Music: Andreas Valachis • Movement: Haris Kousios | Cast: Symeon Kostakoglou, Anastasis Georgoulas, Giorgos Ziakas, Thodoris Vrachas, Spyros Bosgas
Aboard the ship connecting Piraeus with Egina, an exceptional performance will come to life, inspired by truths expressed in Chronis Missios’ work. An ode to everything we didn’t dare to pursue: desires left half-spoken, words that never found their way to our lips, and gazes that turned elsewhere. This is not an ordinary journey; it is an immersive experience at sea.

BRITISH LIBRARY, THE POWER OF GARDENING, UNEARTHED

De magnifiques illustrations botaniques à la plus ancienne tondeuse à gazon mécanisée du monde, des herbes anciennes aux zines de jardinage de guérilla, Unearthed révèle comment les jardiniers ont cultivé plus que de simples plantes - ils ont semé les graines du changement.

Plongez dans le rôle du jardinage dans notre santé et notre bien-être, voyez comment les gens ont réinventé nos maisons, nos villes et nos villages pour créer des espaces verts, et déracinez les histoires enchevêtrées des plantes qui poussent dans nos jardins aujourd’hui.

Parmi une incroyable collection de livres, de manuscrits, de photographies, d’œuvres d’art et d’outils historiques, citons :

le premier manuel de jardinage en anglais : Le guide de Thomas Hill de 1558 sur la façon de s’occuper d’un jardin

Le vasculum de Charles Darwin, pour la collecte de spécimens de plantes lors du voyage du Beagle

la seule plante illustrée en vieil anglais survivante

un portrait à l’huile de John Ystumllyn, l’un des premiers jardiniers noirs documentés de Grande-Bretagne

Les bottes de Gertrude Jekyll : une jardinière pionnière, écrivaine, artiste et l’une des conceptrices de jardins les plus influentes du 20e siècle

art botanique saisissant d’artistes européens, indiens, chinois et caribéens

quatre courts-métrages sur Coco Collective, un jardin communautaire dirigé par des Afro-diasporas qui a ouvert ses portes en réponse à la pandémie de Covid-19

un cas victorien de Wardian, la mini-serre itinérante qui a permis de déplacer des milliers de spécimens de plantes vivantes dans le monde entier.

Unearthed célèbre le jardinage en tant que force de créativité, de résilience et de communauté à travers les histoires remarquables des personnes et des plantes qui façonnent nos jardins.

L’exposition est soutenue par un don fait à la mémoire de Melvin R Seiden, avec des remerciements à Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust pour son soutien supplémentaire.

https://events.bl.uk/exhibitions/unearthed-the-power-of-gardening