The Amharic adaption of “Barefoot in Athens”, (Bado Egir), a 1966 play written by American playwright Maxwell Anderson that chronicles the last years of the philosopher Socrates, his trial and final days before his self-imposed death was staged in Athens’ Odeon of Herodes Atticus on Monday, October 1. The twenty person cast from the Ethiopian National Theatre, who travelled there with the help of Greek Embassy in Addis Ababa, gave the performance in front of 4,000 Greek and Ethiopian audiences to a great acclaim.
Bado Egir, based on Plato’s three works, Crito and the Phaedo and Apology of Socrates, was translated to Amharic by Aschalew Fekede and directed with considerable expertise by Rahel Teshome, and Endale Berhanu, two young directors of the National Theatre. The producers spent no less than two years on the production. The play was edited by the veteran actor, director Debebe Eshetu, who also played the part of Socrates. (However, for the Athens performance he was replaced by Henok Zerabruk because of health issue.) Accompanying music composed by Berhanu Tesfaye added appreciably to production. Meseret Hiwot played the role of Socrates’s wife.
Desta Asres, Theatre directorate director at the Ethiopian National Theatre told Ethiopia Observer that performing the play in the historic Athens and in its original setting was an extraordinary opportunity. “The acting was realistic and people loved it. Despite the theme, it has an Ethiopian touch to it. The play has relevance for Ethiopian society because it raises the universal issue of truth, justice, beauty, questions that have relevance for a society in transition like ours. It is both entertaining and enlightening,” he said.
“The performance has been receiving critical acclaim and popular response in Addis Ababa, where it has been staged for the past eleven months, with 85 percent attendance of the hall with a seat capacity of 1,250,” according to Desta.
In a speech he delivered, before the start of show, Debebe Eshetu said that the play was produced during difficult times of political uncertainty in the country and the performance was at first cancelled because of the state of emergency in the country. “After two or three months an African Socrates embracing the idea of democracy, respecting human rights came to the scene,” he said refereeing to the arrival of Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed. “Socrates was in the middle of the system, trying to change it without raising a sick, only using arguments that are philosophical and creativity. Another man in Ethiopia from the system came with the idea of liberating the people, with creating democracy, with respecting human rights.”
“It’s been my dream playing Socrates in this stage for I have seen performances in different parts of the world. Finally, when I saw the performance that was adapted for TV by George Schaefer and acted by Peter Ustinov, who happened to have an Ethiopian blood was really an encouragement for me to know more about Socrates,” Debebe said.
“One can learn a lot from the character of Socrates, first by trying to find out who Socrates was, what his ideals were. I learned that Socrates was not a lecturer. Socrates was a not a teacher. Socrates was not an informer. What I found was a human being who was really worried about the liberty and democratic rights of human beings,” the veteran actor said.
The two-hour performance was attended by Ethiopians community in Greece who were elated to watch in their own language and appeared to tremendously enjoy it, applauding after each act while the Greeks and other spectators saw the projector’s projection of Greek and English sub-titles. Leletta Selassie, a daughter of an Ethiopian father and a Greek mother, who has left Ethiopia when she was five told Ethiopia Observer that watching the performance was a touching, emotional moment, especially for the largely Greek community from Ethiopia who have left during the 1974 revolution. “It was nice to see the Greek and Ethiopian connections, the blending of two cultures. The actors were very good. They were impressive,” she said.
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