Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama

Lore & Background

The APGRD was praised by Oxford University for its engagement with authors, directors and other theatre practitioners, and was selected as one of the university's Impacts showcase projects for helping to 'sustain the distinctive and dynamic nature of the UK theatre'. The project's publications have been described as playing 'a pivotal role in establishing the parameters and methodologies of the study of the reception of Classical drama in performance'.

Reader's Guide

The APGRD maintains and preserves a number of archival collections, including the Leyhausen-Spiess Collection, the David Raeburn Collection, and the Abd'Elkader Farrah collection. Its performance database has records covering more than 10,000 modern productions of ancient drama and epic. The project also ran the 2005–2011 Onassis Programme, which commissioned, developed and produced professional work from artists including Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott and Yaël Farber. The APGRD's publications, such as 'Medea in Performance, 1500-2000' and 'Dionysus Since 69', have shaped the field of classical reception in performance. Its multimedia e-book 'Medea, a Performance History' (2016) draws on unique archival material and uses images, film, interviews and digital objects to tell the production history of Euripides' Medea. A second e-book, 'Agamemnon, a Performance History', was forthcoming in 2020.

Did You Know?

• The APGRD was founded in 1996 by Edith Hall and Oliver Taplin.
• The APGRD's e-book 'Medea, a Performance History' (2016) is free to download as an iBook or EPUB.

Architectural Mastery and Acoustic Genius

The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus exemplifies Hellenistic stagecraft, preserving the classic tripartite layout of auditorium, orchestra, and stage building. What distinguishes it is the geometry of its seating bowl. The auditorium splits into a lower tier of twelve wedge-shaped sections and an upper tier of twenty-two, divided by a horizontal passageway roughly 1.82 metres wide. The architects worked from three distinct marking centres, a design choice that simultaneously optimised sound projection and gave every spectator a clear sightline. At the heart of the complex sits a circular orchestra twenty metres across, its centre marked by the stone base of the thymele altar. Encircling the orchestra runs the euripos, a covered drainage channel nearly two metres wide. Behind the orchestra, the skene was built in two phases—first around the end of the fourth century BCE, then again in the middle of the second century BCE—eventually comprising a two-storey structure with a proscenium, a colonnade, two slightly projecting backstages, small dressing rooms, and ramps leading up to the roof platform where actors later performed. Remarkably, the theatre escaped the kind of Roman-era alterations that scarred many other Greek venues, and its two original gates have since been restored.

Sacred Origins and the Healing Power of Drama

According to the ancient geographer Pausanias, the theatre was erected at the close of the fourth century BCE, somewhere between 340 and 300, by the architect Polykleitos the Younger. Pausanias himself singled out the structure for its symmetry and beauty, a testament that has endured for over two millennia. Perched on the western slope of Cynortion Mountain near the modern village of Lygourio, the venue formed part of the vast sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. With a seating capacity of thirteen to fourteen thousand, it hosted musical contests, choral singing, and dramatic competitions that were integral to the worship of the healing god. Crucially, the theatre was not merely entertainment; it was also a therapeutic instrument. Ancient belief held that watching dramatic performances could positively affect both mental and physical health, making the spectacle a form of medicine in itself. In recognition of its outstanding architectural and aesthetic value, the theatre was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988, alongside the neighbouring Temple of Asclepius. Today it remains under the jurisdiction of the Epidaurus Municipality and draws large numbers of Greek and international visitors who come to experience a space where art, religion, and healing were once inseparable.

The Modern Revival and the Epidaurus Festival

The theatre's long silence was finally broken in 1938, when Sophocles's tragedy Electra was staged in a landmark modern production. Directed by Dimitris Rontiris, the performance featured the young Katina Paxinou and Eleni Papadaki in leading roles, marking the first time the ancient stage had hosted a full dramatic work in the modern era. World War II interrupted all performances, and the venue lay dormant until 1954, when theatrical activity resumed under the umbrella of an organised festival. The following year, in 1955, the event was formalised as a recurring annual celebration dedicated to the presentation of ancient drama. The Epidaurus Festival endures to this day, running each summer and attracting well-known Greek and international actors. The theatre has also occasionally served as a venue for major musical events. Among the most celebrated appearances was that of the Greek soprano Maria Callas, who performed Verdi's Norma in 1960 and Gluck's Médée in 1961, bringing operatic grandeur to a stage originally designed for the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

Excavation, Restoration, and Enduring Preservation

The first systematic archaeological excavation of the theatre was launched in 1881 by the Archaeological Society, with Panayis Kavvadias serving as the directing archaeologist. His early restorative work in 1907 set the foundation for later interventions. In the mid-twentieth century, A. Orlandos led a major restoration campaign spanning 1954 to 1963, further stabilising and repairing the structure. The most recent and extensive phase of conservation was carried out by the Preservation Committee for Epidaurus Monuments between 1988 and 2016. Thanks to this sustained sequence of careful archaeological and restorative efforts, the theatre has been recovered almost entirely in its original form, with the notable exception of the stage building, which remains only partly preserved. The monument's remarkably intact condition is a direct result of these successive campaigns, each building upon the last. The theatre's survival in such excellent shape—combined with its continued use for live performance—makes it a rare and invaluable link between the ancient Greek world and the present, a living monument rather than a static ruin.