OMA's scenography features three temporary architectural devices that reinterpret the spaces of Syracuse's Greek Theatre, which dates from the 5th century BCE. The interventions are dramatically exploited and adapted at strategic moments within the summer cycle of plays staged by the Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico: Aeschylus's Prometheus Unbound (directed by Claudio Longhi), Euripides' Bacchae (dir. Antonio Calenda) and Aristophane's The Birds (dir. Roberta Torre).

The first intervention, the Ring, is a suspended walkway that completes the semi-circle of the amphitheatre, encompassing the stage and the backstage, and giving actors an alternative way of entering the scene.

The Machine is a fully adaptable backdrop for the plays: a sloping circular platform, seven meters high, mirroring the amphitheater. The backdrop can rotate, symbolizing the passage of 13 centuries during Prometheus's torture; split down the middle, it can also be opened, allowing the entrance of the actors, and symbolizing dramatic events like the Prometheus being swallowed in the bowels of the earth.

The Raft, a circular stage for the actors and dancers, reimagines the orchestra space as a modern thymele, the altar that in ancient times was dedicated to Dionysian rites.

Photos by Alberto Moncada