PEACE
A visit in Aristophanes' play

PEACE

A visit in Aristophanes' play

Adaptation-Original Text-Songs: Foivos Delivorias
Direction-Conception: Nikos Karathanos
Co-Director: Angelos Triantafyllou

Thursday 20 August 2026 | 21:00
Open Theater of Andros

Who will be alive in the summer?
And who will be alive tomorrow?
Neither time knows this
Nor does the star
From Epidaurus
Once again nations fall
To pieces
Listen to my sweet melody
From the edge of this pit
With the dead bodies
Make a wish for Peace
Miss Universe
Because my every war
Is between myself and I
It's s a civil war

Peace is a celebration of a lost rural world; a comical, irresistible argument; a folk festival made out of the very smoke of war; a burning curtain amidst horror.

Nikos Karathanos, Foivos Delivorias and Angelos Triantafyllou are the main partners in crime of a new performance, a new adaptation, a response to madness with madness.

Aristophanes' original comedy was first performed at the City Dionysia festival in 421 BC, winning second prize. It was written at a critical historical moment shortly before the Peace of Nicias, as a reaction to the hope for a cessation of hostilities, which rose thanks to the death of war-loving generals Cimon from Athens and Vrasidas from Sparta in the Battle of Amphipolis. With its lyrical eloquence and Aristophanes' familiar sarcasm, the comedy reflects how tired society was of the Peloponnesian War, highlighting the irrational obsession with war and its destructive consequences on people's daily life, work and happiness. Aristophanes contrasts warmongers' violence and profit with the fertility, love and collective prosperity brought by peace. Despite the seemingly utopian solution, the comedy is not naïve; it acknowledges the resistance, interests and inertia that prevent the restoration of peace.

Peace occupies a central position in Aristophanes' work, as it is a highly conciliatory and the most optimistic of his political comedies. Despite its strong bond with the era that sparked its creation, this comedy remains timeless because it highlights a mechanism that is repeated to this day; wars that are prolonged at the expense of the many for the benefit of the few. The insistence of everyday people to claim peace, even against the logic of power, makes this play timely today, in a world where invasions, violence, threats, insecurity and cynicism continue to be presented as inevitable.

ARTISTIC AND PRODUCTION CREDITS

Adaptation - Original Text - Songs: Foivos Delivorias
Direction - Conception: Nikos Karathanos
Co-Director: Angelos Triantafyllou
Associate Dramaturge: Eri Kyrgia
Set Design: Eva Manidaki
Costume: Angelos Mentis
Music: Foivos Delivorias, Angelos Triantafyllou
Lighting: Eliza Alexandropoulou
Movement: Amalia Bennett
Choreography: Alexandros Stavropoulos
Consultant on the ancient text: Giannis Asteris
Assistant Directors: Dimitris Stavropoulos, Orestis Stavropoulos
Assistant Set Designer: Maria Kalofouti
2^nd Assistant Set Designer: Marilia Diafa
Assistant Costume Designer: Alexandra Anastasia Ftouli
Assistant Director: Nafsika Kirki
Backstage Photography: Dimitris Makris
Promo Photography: Elina Younanli
Tour Manager: Katerina Kamarinopoulou
Communication - Press Office: Maria Tsolaki
Social Media - Advertising: Renegade Media, Vasilis Zarkadoulas
Production Manager: Efi Panourgia
Executive Producers: Giannis Koulouris, Katerina Kamarinopoulou
Produced by Texnixoros Performing Acts

In co-production with Athens Epidaurus Festival.
The Athens Epidaurus Festival is funded by the Ministry of Culture.

Cast

Galini Hatzipashali, Thanasis Alevras, Emily Koliandri, Giannis Kotsifas, Panos Papadopoulos, Zeta Makrypoulia, Vaso Kavalieratou, Foivos Delivorias, Nikos Karathanos, Angelos Triantafyllou, Yilmaz Chousmen, Alkis Bakogiannis, Konstantinos Kontogeorgopoulos, Konstantinos Zografos, Giannis Sampsalakis, Vasilis Papadopoulos, Spyros Bosgas, Antonis Christou

On-stage orchestra: Andreas Polyzogopoulos, Thodoris Rellos, Yoel Soto, Giannis Angelopoulos (Jan Van De Engel)