Alternative Stage Founding Donor

Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera

The GNO Alternative Stage is extending its partnership with the Municipal & Regional Theatre of Kavala for a second consecutive year, aiming to showcase contemporary artistic works and strengthen the connection between the periphery and the Athenian audience. Five productions from this year's 69^th Philippi Festival - organized by the Municipal & Regional Theatre of Kavala and dedicated to the concept of transformation -will be showcased at the Alternative Stage. These performances will introduce audiences to original commissions that, for the first time, transcend the narrow confines of theatre and engage in dialogue with music, opera, shadow puppet theatre, and visual installations.

Phaëton

20 September 2026 • Starts at: 21.15

Three-act opera, based on Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera of the same name, with a libretto by Philippe Quinault.

Co-production between the GNO Alternative Stage and the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala

Concept, artistic curation: Rafi Music Theate Company (Anastasia Kotsali, Lito Messini) • Dramaturgy, musical adaptation, arrangement, live electronics: Vasiliki Legaki • Director: Sofia Antoniou • Poetic composition: Tonia Tzirita Zacharatou • Sets: Marilena Kalaitzantonaki • Costumes: Eleni Kavvada • Lighting design: Vasilis Apostolatos • Cast (in alphabetical order): Paris Dimatsas, Georgios Iatrou, Anastasia Kotsali, Lito Messini • Musicians: Kostas Giovanis (oboe), Eleftheria Togia (viola), Konstantinos Zigkeridis (bayan), Vasiliki Legaki (live electronics)

One of the most important works by the Italian-French Baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, Phaëton, with a libretto by Philippe Quinault, has been adapted by the established composer and artistic director of the Process Festival, Vasiliki Legaki, engaging in a fertile conversation with the original. The cast includes the distinguished soloists Georgios Iatrou, Anastasia Kotsali, and Lito Messini, as well as the emerging baritone Paris Dimatsas in his debut leading role. The performance is directed by Sofia Antoniou, one of the most distinctive voices in theater of her generation, in her debut as an opera director.

The opera Phaëton is the latest fruit of a creative relationship developed over recent years by the two institutions - the Greek National Opera and the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala - marking their first complete collaboration and co-production to result in a performance.