Blindness

Based on José Saramago's novel

Adapted by Simon Stephens

Directed and translated by Emily Louizou

Athens & Epidaurus Festival 2025 [Peiraios 260]

A person loses their sight, without warning, without obvious cause. Within hours, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary blindness. It is contagious. Incidents of sudden blindness spread rapidly across the city. The government, desperate to contain the outbreak, quarantines the infected in an abandoned hospital, but panic engulfs society as increasingly oppressive measures take hold. How long before the streets descend into chaos? How long before food supplies run out? How soon before power, gas, and water systems collapse? Only one woman remains immune. She retains her vision and bears witness to both shocking brutality and unexpected tenderness in a city that sinks, both literally and metaphorically, into darkness. What would you do if you were the only one who could see in a world gone blind?

Following the tradition of Albert Camus’ The Plague (1947) and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1964), Nobel laureate José Saramago explores the depths of human nature under extreme conditions in the pages of his world-renowned Blindness. Now, one of Britain’s most celebrated dramaturgs, Simon Stephens, adapts this masterwork of a myth uniquely, balancing between light and darkness, humour and insanity, poetry and dystopia.

Presenting the world premiere of the adaptation by the award-winning British dramaturg five years after the outbreak of the pandemic, Emily Louizou explores the corrosive effect of fear on the dissolution of our societies through an allegoric lens. She illuminates the distorted image of a society in panic, one that consents without hesitation to the crackdown of the most elemental and historically gained human rights. With the eerie tension of a psychological thriller, the play pairs the apocalyptic setting of quarantine with intense physicality, bringing the power of intimacy into sharp focus as the need for survival grows ever more urgent. As integral elements of the directorial vision, the original music and movement guide the theatre ensemble in a haunting narrative journey from darkness to light.

Directed & Translated by Emily Louizou

Movement by Ioli Filippakopoulou
Set design Thalia Melissa
Costume design Niki Psyhogiou
Musical composition & Sound design Irene Skylakaki
Lighting design Christina Thanasoula

Technical sound design- Sound engineering David Blouin
Assistant director Thaleia Griva

Second assistant director Alexandra Karavia
Assistant set designer Paris Paraskevopoulos

Assistant costume designer Zoe Kelesi

Special constructions Rodger Fischer

Production technical co-ordinator Nikos Charalambidis

Executive producer Polyplanity Productions /

Yolanda Markopoulou, Vicky Strataki

Cast: Georgina Daliani, Nestor Kopsidas, Nefeli Kouri, Lefteris Polychronis, Emilianos Stamatakis, Konstantina Takalou

Participants Anna Anastasaki, Eleni-Elpida Banou, Nikos Bousis, Lydia Dagovanou, Paris Garos, Orestis Georgiou, Bilio Marnelli, Ananias Mitsiopoulos, Erophilie Panagiotarea, Isidora Trivella

Special appearance Idili Kaplanidi

Photos Mariza Kapsabeli

More details: https://aefestival.gr/festival_events/i-poli-ton-tyflon/?lang=en