Dionysos Stadt (Dionysos City)

Jury Statement

How often can we say that we remember even months later exactly how we felt during a theatre performance, how we laughed and marvelled, how at times we felt like mere bystanders, only to be carried away again moments later, how we felt like such integral parts of the experience? In “Dionysos Stadt”, a ten-hour marathon of ancient Greek theatre, Christopher Rüping tells the story of mankind who receive the gift of fire from Prometheus to create, and use it only to pillage and plunder. Fed by a variety of old and new sources, this journey takes us from the myth of Prometheus via the Trojan War to its fallout manifested in the family tragedy of the “Oresteia”. In the satyr play, we finally encounter a modern hero: the melancholy football-god Zinédine Zidane and his fall during the World Cup finals of 2006. The individual parts of the production are separated by extensive intervals and hospitality. Because the evening’s sophisticated dramaturgy is almost surpassed by its character of a grand festivity. With a decidedly casual air, the actors invite their audience to join them, to settle on the stage at times, to move closer to the events. It is a great and relaxed piece of theatre. The rediscovery of conviviality.