The Foundation of the Hellenic World presents the classic masterpiece Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy for the 2026-2027 season at the Theatron of the The "Hellenic Cosmos" Cultural Centre.
Director Petros Zoulias, following the great success of Our Great Circus by Iakovos Kambanellis, undertakes a contemporary adaptation and dramatization of Anna Karenina. This is an ambitious major production that will be staged under his direction.
Lena Papaligoura will portray the title role of the iconic heroine of world literature. Giannis Tsortekis will appear as her husband, Karenin.
Tolstoy's novel has been regarded by many (including Dostoevsky, Faulkner, and others) as the greatest novel of all time. Anna Karenina, an epic and universal story exploring the great themes of life and death, stands at the pinnacle of literary realism and continues to inspire the love and emotion of millions of readers around the world.
About the Play
Anna Karenina transports us to the aristocratic Russia of the 19th century, an era dominated by social inequality, conventions, and prejudice. During a brief journey to Moscow to help resolve her brother's marital problems, an unexpected encounter changes her life forever.
The charming Count Alexei Vronsky, the future fiancé of her niece, awakens emotions she had never dared to express. Despite her marriage to the stern and emotionally distant government official Karenin, Anna is swept away by a passionate love affair with Vronsky, defying social conventions and her place in high society. In her search for the meaning of life and personal happiness, she is confronted with profound conflicts: between conventional life and forbidden love, and with the consequences of her own choices. Her husband, determined to avoid public scandal, refuses to grant her a divorce, even after learning that she is pregnant and has a child with Vronsky.
Society, acting as the relentless judge of the era, gradually leads the heroine into social isolation. At the same time, her husband's uncompromising attitude, along with her growing suspicions that Vronsky may be unfaithful to her, contribute decisively to her emotional and psychological disintegration.
Through the tragic journey of Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy explores themes such as family bonds, love, death, jealousy, and the social expectations of his time. At the same time, he poses a timeless moral dilemma: is it better to regret something you did, or something you never dared to do?
