Veles, 3 August 2021 (MIA) - The 18^th Stobi International Festival of Antique Drama (IFAD) will take place from August 3 through August 17 after a two-year hiatus. The festival opens Tuesday at 9 pm at the Stobi Palace of Theodosius near Veles with a premiere of the three-hour play Oresteia, a co-production between the Jordan Hadji Konstantinov-Dzinot Theater in Veles and the National Opera and Ballet (NOB). Aeschylus’ Oresteia is being staged in the country for the first time. The play has been prepared by four directors, two choreographers and three composers. Sasho Dimoski, festival selector and the Veles theater director, says the play is in fact made up of four plays - the original three tragedies that comprise the trilogy, as well as the lost satire play. “It was reconstructed for the needs of this production. We restored it according to our drafts, and it’s sort of a connective tissue that links all three tragedies in one whole,” Dimoski says. Part of the choir, part of the NOB’s ballet ensemble and part of the actors in the Veles theater participate in the play. Evica Taseska-Karanfilova, NOB’s program director, says they were involved in the project even though their primary form of expression isn’t drama. “We decided to experiment and create an impressive work of art alongside the Veles theater. Another reason behind our participation is that we want to be a leader in creating inter-institutional cooperation, so that we can create such complex works,” Taseska-Karanfilova says. Oresteia will be performed in front of 200 audience members at Stobi’s Palace of Theodosius. The amphitheater is being reconstructed this year, so to keep viewers safe, an alternate spot for the play to be held has been found. The first part of Oresteia, Agamemnon, is directed by Aleksandar Ivanovski and Kaliopi Bukle composed the score. The second part, titled The Libation Bearers, is directed by Nenad Vitanov with Enes Begovski writing the score and Olga Pango doing the choreographyThe third part, The Eumenides, is directed by Sofija Ristevska Petrusheva after the play was written by Biljana Krajchevska. Sasha Eftimova is the choreographer and Sashko Kostov has chosen the music. The satire linking the three tragedies is directed by Dejan Damjanovski, Katerina Momeva is the dramatist, Sasha Eftimova is the choreographer and Sashko Kostov will perform live. Rade Vasilev is in charge of the costumes in all four works. IFAD features twelve events that will take place on several locations. The official selection, under the motto of “New rituals” unites six plays: other than tonight’s premiere of Oresteia, there is an Oresteia ¼, part of the Chorus project produced by MKC Skopje, Proteus, a Missing Piece of Memory, also part of the international Chorus project, produced by the Graz Theater am Lend in Austria, Bahki, a Short Overview of Falling Apart produced by NT Bitola, Ismena, a technical co-production by NT Dzinot of Veles, Oedipus – comments, produced by NUCK Aco Shopov of Shtip. Othello will close the festival, co-produced by Peripeteia, MNT and NP Zenica which will be performed in honor of the laureates. The guests of the Banja Luka Narodno pozorište pulled out at the last minute due to Covid. Alongside the official selection, a festival publication titled New Antique Drama  will be promoted, published by Polica, the Vita exhibition by Filip Petkovski will be set up, and a cycle of films by Branko Gapo will be openly shown in the parking lot by the Veles theater, in cooperation with the Macedonian cinema. The Stobi IFAD is part of the annual work program by the NT Jordan Hadzi Konstantinov – Dzinot, and it’s been funded by companies alongside the Ministry of Culture and the City of Veles. The direction awards for a play as a whole, for a male and female role, will not be a Maenad statue, but a Bozhinovski diamond instead. The jury is comprised of the actors Vasil Zafirchev and Keti Borisovska, and Roze Trajchevska, costume designer. Tickets, priced at MKD 200, are sold at the ticket station. Also, there is no organized bus ride from Veles to Stobi and back this year. The festival is backed by the Ministry of Culture and the City of Veles that handed the organization to the Veles theater with a decision by the Council. dk/ba/