Festen

Festen is a stage adaptation by the English playwright David Eldridge of the Danish film of the same name.

Synopsis:
As in the original movie, Festen satirises the hypocrisy of a large and wealthy family by observing the events that unfold at the ancestral home during a reunion held to celebrate the oldest family member's 60th birthday.

As the time arises for birthday speeches to be made to the party's subject, one of his sons stands and asks the assembled guests to choose which of two prepared speeches he should read. The guests select one not knowing its contents, and the son declares it the "truth speech". As he begins to talk, it becomes dramatically clear that he is not praising his father but accusing him of having abused him and his sister over a period of years during their childhood. The rest of the story traces the family's turbulent battle with the truth to discover whether the son's cold rage is justified or the product of a deranged imagination.

Translation: Aliki Danezi-Knutsen & Manolis Dounias
Director: Neophytos Taliotis
Sets/Costumes: Aggelos Aggeli
Music Design/Drama Analysis: Dimitris Taliotis

Cast: Stavros Louras (Helge), Christodoulos Martas (Christian), Annita Santorineou (Else), Stella Fyrogenis (Helene), Harry Kkolos (Michael); also Yorgos Muaimis (Grandfather), Christina Christofia (Pia), Stavros Kalligas (Gbatokay), Thanassis Drakopoulos (Poul), Nicholas Stylianou (Lars), Ermina Kyriazi (Mette), Andreas Tsouris (Helmut) and Theodoros Michaelidis (Kim)

(in Greek)