The ancient city of Thebes has long been a stage for the great dramas of Greek mythology.
Founded, legend has it, by the Phoenician prince Cadmus as he searched for his abducted sister Europa, the city became a birthplace of gods, a center of worship and the setting for some of the most enduring tragedies.
Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, was said to have been born there, while King Oedipus fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother.
Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides — three of classical Athens’s most celebrated tragedians — turned the stories of Thebes’s royal house into works that shaped the foundations of Western drama.
The National Theater Company of Korea will bring these myths to the Seoul stage with “Anthropolis,” a five-part cycle by German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig.
Premiered at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg in 2023, “Anthropolis” revives the myths of Thebes across five plays: “Prolog/Dionysos,” “Laios,” “Oedipus,” “Iokaste” and “Antigone/Epilog.”
The cycle has been praised for vividly and beautifully tracing 2,500 years of civilization, presenting ancient mythological figures either faithfully or through modern reinterpretation across the five parts. Watching all five plays from start to finish takes over 10 hours.
The ambitious project will unfold at Myeongdong Theater in Seoul beginning Oct. 10 with "Prolog/Dionysos," followed by "Laios" in November, with the remaining three installments scheduled for next year.
The opening installment, “Prolog/Dionysos,” adapted faithfully from Euripides’ “The Bacchae,” begins with Zeus’s abduction of Europa in the form of a bull and traces the rise of Thebes as a wealthy city. It culminates in the clash between King Pentheus and Dionysus, dramatizing the god’s birth and the king’s violent demise. The Korean production is directed by Yoon Han-sol and features a cast of 18 actors.
The second part, “Laios” focuses on Oedipus’s father, tracing his rise to the throne of Thebes. Staged as a one-woman performance starring Jeon Hye-jin, the production will be directed by Kim Su-jung and is the only play in the cycle written entirely by Schimmelpfennig rather than adapted from an ancient text.
English subtitles will be provided for both “Prolog/Dionysos” and “Laios” on Thursdays and Sundays, except on Oct. 19 and Nov. 16.
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
