SEVEN AGAINST THEBES by Aeschylus

Award-winning artist Lea Maleni directs this year’s Cypriot production of the Festival, Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus, produced by Persona Theatre Company, with a particularly dynamic and aesthetic directorial approach, supported by an outstanding group of artists.

At the heart of Aeschylus’s tragedy lies the fratricidal conflict between Oedipus’s sons. Polynices returns at the head of the Argive army to claim the power denied him by his brother, Eteocles, in violation of their agreement. Thebes is under a suffocating siege, and the confrontation inevitably leads to a conflict with no winners, where power and fraternal bonds clash with devastating consequences.

Drawing on Myth, History, and collective memory, the performance engages with the present day, focusing on fear, trauma, and the heartbreak of civil war. In a world of endless, perpetuating fratricidal conflicts, where the dividing lines between perpetrator and victim grow increasingly blurred, a troupe with diverse ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds unites its voices in a heart-wrenching multicultural coexistence, seeking light amidst the maelstrom of war.

Aeschylus’s iconic anti-war drama, the final play in his Theban cycle, centres on the harrowing experience of civil strife that transcends time, remaining dramatically relevant. Articulating the raw language of war, it speaks with sharpness to contemporary audiences, conveying anguish and despair over the outcome of human folly.

• WITH ENGLISH AND GREEK SURTITLES
• SUITABLE FOR AGES 12+
• DURATION: 90 MINUTES