The Lebanese-Canadian writer, director and actor Ouazdi Muawad, Artistic Director of the Théâtre National de la Colline, is best known in Greece as the screenwriter of the Oscar-nominated foreign language film "Through the Flames" (dir. Denis Villeneuve, 2010), based on his play "Incendies", a dark travelogue set in Lebanon during the civil war, which unfolds through a traumatic family history and has a deep connection to ancient tragedy. Muawad draws inspiration from the divisions at the heart of the family, the struggle between the sexes, uprooting, the legacy of previous generations and the search for catharsis. His plays often converse with the heroes of ancient drama and delve into myth, highlighting the archetypal dimensions of the human adventure. At the same time, his plays focus on the search for identity across racial, religious and familial boundaries, using an intensely lyrical language. Muawad visited the Herodion in 2011 with the Women cycle, directing works by Sophocles including Antigone, Electra and Trachinias with a French-Canadian company. This year he returns to the festival, for the first time in Epidaurus, with a new play inspired by ancient heroines. The play, commissioned as part of the Contemporary Ancients Cycle, will be performed on the first weekend of August by a multi-ethnic company in a multilingual performance.
As part of the Athens - Epidaurus Festival 2025.
