2025 Aristophanes' Frogs
2025 Aristophanes Frogs
Athens, collapsing under the weight of the Peloponnesian War and culturally starving since the last great playwright, Euripides, kicked the bucket, desperately needs a hero. Enter the God of Theatre, Dionysus, and his slacker slave sidekick, Xanthias. Together, they set off on a suicidal mission to the Land of the Dead, aiming to drag Euripides—hailed as the ‘greatest playwright ever’—back to life and save the city. Blocking their way are not only strange monsters and awkward complications to their mortality, but also inflation-induced travel costs, grumpy locals, and another great rival playwright convinced they, not Euripides, should be the real saviour of Athens. Oh, and then there’s the frogs...
It’s a road trip to hell and back. Will Athens find its saviour ? Or is the comedy all that we really need?
To book for the play and workshops, click on the following link: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-theatre/events/2025/feb/aristophanes-frogs
Age guidance: 12+ if accompanied by an adult.
Director: Dan Warsop
Producer: Franky Slater.
Dramaturg: Ffion Smith.
Production Advisor: Simon Dormandy.
Academic Advisor: Giovanna Di Martino
Show Dats and Times:
- Wednesday 12th February 7.30pm
- Thursday 13th February 2.30pm & 7.30pm
- Friday 14th February 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Public Engagement Programme
Pre-Show Talks:
Evening performances on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th will include a pre-show talk in the theatre (included in the ticket).
Thursday 13 February, 6.45-7.15pm – Rosie Wyles (Durham): Drama and Politics in Frogs
Friday 14 February, 6.45-7.15pm – Helen Eastman (Theatre Director/Creation Theatre): The World of Ancient Comedy
Free Workshops:
Wednesday 12 February
1-2.30pm Venue: Room 05 in Tottenham Court Road (188) SB1A - View Map
Dr Georgios Mouratidis (Assistant Director of BSA) The Artists Around Dionysus: Artists and Festivals
3-5pm Venue: Bloomsbury Studio - View Map
Dr Ezra Baudou (Dramaturg/Lincoln): Chorus and Chorality in Practice
Thursday 13 February
11.30am-1.30pm Venue: Bloomsbury Studio - View Map
Dr Giovanna Di Martino (UCL/Classics): Archiving Performance & Performing the Archive
Friday 14 February
11.30am-1.30pm Venue: Bloomsbury Studio - View Map
Dr Giovanna Di Martino (UCL/Classics) and Dr Kirstin Smith (UCL/Performance Studies): Chorus, Ancient and Modern
All workshops are free but registration is required.
Thanks to the Leventis Foundation for their generous support.
Study Guide
Browse our interactive and interdisciplinary Study Guide with exciting interviews to and essays by academics, on Euripides' Bacchae, its reception and more!
Peter Agocs (UCL): Aristophanes' Frogs. A Study Guide (link: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/classics/aristophanes-frogs-study-guide)
Elena Fiecconi (UCL): Frogs, Aristophanes and the Function of Literature (file)
Fiachra Mac Góráin (UCL) and Maddalena Italia (UCL): The Many Faces of Dionysus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbNnfxIEIXs)
Zoë Morris (Old Vic), Lucy Ruddiman (Bristol), Lowri White (Cranleigh School): Aristophanes at UCL. An Exhibition (file)
- More about the UCL Classical Play
This is now one of the most famous and long-running commitments to the modern production of ancient drama in the world. It attracts large audiences, many of whom are young people studying classical drama at school or university, and is regularly reviewed in the national press. Ticket prices are kept low.
The production is managed by students in the Department of Greek and Latin, with help and advice from staff. A number of former students involved in the classical play have gone on to careers in drama. Students choose a director and a producer in the autumn: the title of the play for the following year is announced in late October (and is advertised on this website).
The Department of Greek and Latin is committed to bringing these productions to the widest possible audience. For each production we run a programme of lectures and workshops, free and open to the public, which are run by leading academics and theatre experts from across the UK. For the benefit of schools and colleges we also create a web-page of study materials on ancient drama in general, and with special focus on the current year's performance.
Close
