3,500 watch ancient Greek play Hippolytus at Salamis amphitheatre

Greek and Turkish Cypriots watch Euripides' Hippolytus on Friday 11 September. Photo: CNA

NEWS/TRNC

On Friday night, theatre lovers were treated to a spectacular performance of Hippolytus, an ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, at the ancient open-air amphitheatre of Salamis, Famagusta. An audience of 3,500 people watched the play, produced by the Theatrical Organisation of South Cyprus (THOC) and performed in Greek, with English and Turkish surtitles.

The sell-out event was a collaboration between the Greek Cypriot theatre company, a bi-communal group called Famagusta Our City, and the Famagusta Walled City Association (MASDER), and supported by the UN Bi-communal Technical Committee on Culture. The audience comprised some 2,800 Greek Cypriots and 700 Turkish Cypriots.

MASDER spokesperson Serdar Atai said, "It was a very nice evening. Together we made a journey to our roots, to [share] our common cultural heritage. It was a very emotional night, really we all felt very nostalgic”.

Several Greek Cypriot politicians, such as EDEK’s Kostis Efstathiu, criticised THOC for their performance in North Cyprus, claiming a performance in the “occupied territories…sent out the wrong message”.

However, the chairman of THOC Yiannis Toumazis defended their performance, stating that it proved culture has the power to create a new chapter in the history of Cyprus. He said:

 

The cast of Hippolytus. Photo: Kibris Manset

"Culture is the main weapon in our quiver as a European country in this very troubled region of the southeast Mediterranean. We must develop and exploit this weapon with our cultural heritage and cultural power.”

Toumazis' comments were echoed by Pavlos Iacovou, the President of the Famagusta Our City initiative, who told the Cyprus News Agency that the event was a message of peace: “For us who believe in the reunification of our country, culture is a way to unite people.”

Hippolytus was the second event organised under the auspices of the UN Bi-Communal Technical Committee for Culture. It follows a music concert at Famagusta’s historic Othello Tower in July, which was attended by the two Cypriot leaders, Mustafa Akıncı and Nicos Anastasiades.