Theodoros Terzopoulos (; born 1945) is a Greek theatre director.
Biography
Terzopoulos was born in 1945 in
Makrygialos, Pieria
Makrygialos (, 'Long Beach') is a coastal village and a former municipal district in Pieria regional unit, Greece. It lies 21 km away from the town of Katerini Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the municipality Pydna ...
, descending from a large farming family of
Pontic
Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to:
The Black Sea Places
* The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores
* Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores
* The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from nor ...
origin.
He initially studied at the drama school of K. Michaelides in Athens (1965–67) and then at the
Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langh ...
in East Berlin (1972–76).
During his studies in East Germany he was significantly influenced by
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postd ...
.
Returning to Greece, he worked first in Thessaloniki, and then from 1978 with the
National Theatre of Northern Greece
The National Theatre of Northern Greece or NTNG () is an institution promoting performing arts primarily in Thessaloniki and Northern Greece, founded in 1961.
The complex of the Society of Macedonian Studies houses its headquarters, consisted of ...
, in which he directed four plays, and was the director of its associated drama school from 1981 to 1983.
In 1985 he became director at the festival of ancient drama at the
European Cultural Centre of Delphi. In the same year, he founded the theatre group Attis, with which he presented
Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...
' ''
The Bacchae
''The Bacchae'' (; , ''Bakkhai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumou ...
'' in Delphi in 1986, gaining over the years international fame and recognition for his radical and pioneering direction. In 1993 he founded the
Theatre Olympics, of which he also assumed the presidency.
During his career, he has directed numerous
ancient Greek tragedies, as well as modern Greek and European pays, in festivals and theatres around the world,
including a revival of ''The Bacchae'' at the
Stanislavsky Electrotheatre in 2015. He has also received various awards.
In 2015 he published the book ''Η Επιστροφή του Διόνυσου'' ('The Return of Dionysus'),
which has been translated into several languages.
Awards
Awards (selected):
* Lorca Award (for the performance Bacchae by Euripides), Barcelona, Spain, 1986.
* Stanislavski Award for best direction (for the performance Quartet by Heiner Muller), Moscow, 1993.
* Great Theatre Award (for the performance Persians by Aeschylus), Brazil, 1994.
* Award for Best Direction (for the performance Antigone by Sophocles), Festival of Nations, Seoul, 1994.
* Award for Best Direction (for the performance Dionysus), Bogota, Colombia, 1998.
* Award for Best Direction (for the performance Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus), New Delhi, India, 2000.
* Honorary Theatre Prize by the Union of Theatre Critics, Athens, Greece, 2006.
* Honorary Theatre Award, Istanbul, Turkey, 2006.
* Award for Best Performance (for the performance Promethues Bound by Aeschylus), Beijing, 2008.
* Award for Best Direction (for the performance Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus), Beijing, 2008.
* Award for Best Performance (for the performance Ajax by Sophocles), Merida, Spain, 2008.
* Award for Best Direction (for the performance Mauser by Heiner Müller), Audience Awards, Athens, Greece, 2010.
* Four Awards for Best Performance, Best Direction, Best Assemble Acting and Best Production (for the performance Antigone by Sophocles), Beijing, China, 2011.
* Best solo performance (for the performance Eremos), Moscow, 2011.
* Best solo performance (for the performance Jocasta), Moscow 2012.
* Granting of the supreme Indian title Shi by the President Ram Nath Kovind, Mumbai, 2018.
* Named Cultural Forum Ambassador by the Minister of Culture of Russia Vladimir Medinsky, Saint Petersburg, 2018.
* Awards for Best Performance, Best Direction (for the performance Mother Courage) and Best Female Actress Magnolia Award (for Elena Nemzer), Shanghai 2019.
* Award for Best Performance (for the performance Prometheus Bound), Modern Drama Valley Theatre, Shanghai, 2019.
* Award for Lifetime Achievement, Cairo International Theater Festival, 2019.
* Figaro National Theatre Award for the contribution to the development of world theatre, Saint Petersburg, 2020.
* International Theatre Award Yuri Liubimov, International Theatre Institute ITI and Yuri Liubimov Foundation, 2020.
* International Audience Award Zvezda Teatrala for the category «Best Performance directed by non-Russian director in Russia» for the staging of Mauser in Alexandrisnky Theatre, 2020.
* Award of ΜΙΤΕΜ Festival for the performance Ajax, the madness, Budapest, 2021.
* Award of ΜΙΤΕΜ Festival for the performance Amor, Budapest, 2022.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Terzopoulos, Theodoros
Living people
1947 births
Greek theatre directors
People from Pieria (regional unit)