American Thymele Theatre
A New York nonprofit founded in 1993 to stage free Greek and classical drama, which completed a 14-year project to perform all 18 surviving plays of Euripides and was selected to present at the 2004 Athens Olympics Cultural Olympiad.
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- Established
- 1993
- Location
- New York City, United States
- Country
- United States
- Founder/Artistic Director
- Stephen Diacrussi
- Mission
- Preserve and promote Hellenic culture in America through free public performancesstated by the subject
- Flagship project
- New York Euripides Summer Festival (2009-2023) — all 18 surviving Euripides plays staged over 14 years
- Notable recognition
- Selected by the Cultural Olympiad Committee to present "The Grocer's Daughter" at the 2004 Athens Olympics; grants from the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation
Overview
American Thymele Theatre is a New York nonprofit theater company founded in 1993 by Stephen Diacrussi, who continues to serve as its artistic director. Its mission is to preserve and promote Hellenic culture in America through free public performances of Greek and classical drama (Playbill). In 2004, the company was selected by the Cultural Olympiad Committee to present “The Grocer’s Daughter” at the Athens Olympics, and it has received grants from the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation (The National Herald).
The Euripides Summer Festival
In 2009 the company launched the New York Euripides Summer Festival, a long-running project to stage every one of the 18 surviving plays of Euripides as free outdoor performances across New York City. Independently documented productions along the way include “Medea” (2011), “Children of Hercules” (2012) — reviewed by Time Out New York as a 25-person cast production (Time Out New York) — “Hippolytus” (2013), and “Bacchae” (2023), which completed the festival’s 14-year goal (TornosNews.gr). The company describes itself as the only touring company to have staged the complete surviving Euripides corpus.
Timeline
- 1993
- American Thymele Theatre is founded by Stephen Diacrussi.
- 2004
- Selected by the Cultural Olympiad Committee to present "The Grocer's Daughter" at the Athens Olympics.
- 2009
- Launches the New York Euripides Summer Festival, a multi-year project to stage all 18 surviving Euripides plays.
- 2011
- Stages "Medea" as a free outdoor production across three New York City venues.
- 2012
- Stages "Children of Hercules," independently reviewed as a 25-person outdoor production.
- 2013
- Stages "Hippolytus" in its fifth festival year, across three NYC venues.
- 2023
- Completes the Euripides Summer Festival's 14-year goal with a staging of "Bacchae."
Sources
6 sources (3 tier 1, 3 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Sourced primarily to Playbill, a major theater trade publication, and Time Out New York's independent editorial listings, with supporting coverage from The National Herald and TornosNews.gr; the company's own site was used only for uncontested production-list detail.
- American Thymele Theatre's Free Production of Medea Begins July 12 in NYC Supports: Founder, founding mission, and the 2011 Medea production's director, cast and venues.
- Euripides Summer Festival Offers Free Outdoor Performances of Children of Hercules Supports: The 1993 founding date, founder/director, and the 2012 Children of Hercules production's cast and venues.
- Children of Hercules Supports: Independent editorial confirmation of the 2012 Children of Hercules staging, director and cast size.
- American Thymele Theatre's Historic 30th Anniversary Supports: The 30th-anniversary retrospective, the 2004 Cultural Olympiad selection, Niarchos Foundation grants, and completion of the full Euripides cycle in 2023.
- NY Euripides Free Summer Theater Festival Presents Bacchae Supports: The 2023 Bacchae production's director and cast, and confirmation of the festival's 14-year completion.
- American Thymele Theatre to Present Hippolytus in Outdoor NYC Venues Supports: The 2013 Hippolytus production, its cast size and venues, and confirmation it was the festival's fifth year.
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