EPIDAURUS, Greece (AP) — As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global fascination with Homer, a cast of disabled and non-disabled performers in Greece is staging the war’s other story.It’s not about the triumph of returning heroes, but the suffering they left behind.“The Trojan Women,” with a cast of 22, was staged at Epidaurus, the ancient open-air stone arena in southern Greece. It marked what organizers called the first fully accessible performance in the ancient theater’s 2,300-year history.While Homer followed warriors sailing home from Troy, the playwright Euripides — writing some three centuries later — turned to the city’s ruins and its women, forced into exile and enslavement.The ancient theater offered a full range of accessibility services for the Aug. 2 performance. Blind audience members received Braille programs, tactile models and live audio description, while deaf spectators followed overhead titles. Physical adaptations also improved access throughout the site.
“It’s the first time a performance at Ancient Epidaurus has been made accessible to everyone,” said Greg Polychronidis, a Paralympic gold medalist who attended the event. “Today was a celebration of equality and it should serve as an example for everyone, forever.”For many of the performers, standing on the ancient stage was itself part of the message: a voice for those often overlooked. Eirini Kourouvani, a 58-year-old cast member who uses a wheelchair, had never set foot inside the theater before.
