Ambassador Luca Ferrari presents the new season of the Greek Theatre of Syracuse in Tel Aviv with the event 'An Oedipus without borders. Retranslating the classics today".
Ambassador Luca Ferrari presented at the Italian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv the new season of the Greek Theatre of Syracuse, which will run from 9 May to 6 July 2025, in collaboration with the National Institute of Ancient Drama - Inda Foundation.
The centrepiece of the evening will be the new Hebrew translations of plays scheduled at the Greek Theatre: the comedy 'Lysistrata' by Aristophanes and the tragedies 'Electra' and 'Oedipus at Colonus' by Sophocles. The Hebrew translations, produced with the Inda Foundation and the University of Catania, will be collected together with the Arabic texts in a bilingual volume, available to theatre-goers.
In illustrating the initiative, Ambassador Ferrari highlighted the topicality of the Hellenistic dramaturgy that is the subject of the new translations. 'In the difficult times we are living in, classical theatre is undoubtedly topical. Lysistrata contains a fierce critique of war and the suffering it entails. In Electra, Sophocles deals with the theme of revenge and reaction in the face of injustice suffered; Oedipus at Colonus is a tragedy about guilt and the possibility of redemption," the Ambassador emphasised. "With this project we are aiming at the heart of cultural diplomacy by offering tools to strengthen the ties between Italy and Israel. The Greek theatre maintains a universalist vocation, continued the Ambassador. It is therefore an honour for Syracuse and Italy to host the performance of ancient drama benefiting from the impulse of the relationship between Judaism and Hellenism'.
The meeting was attended by Marina Valensise, CEO of Fondazione Inda; Stefano Rapisarda, (University of Catania/Jewish University of Jerusalem); Giacomo Loi (University of Haifa); Jonathan Fine and Giuseppina Marigo, who translated the plays and Cristina Travanini, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv.
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