Epidaurus Theatre

The most refined of the ancient theaters, and the best preserved! The Theatre of Epidaurus was built in the third century BC. Already renowned for the purity of its forms and the quality of its acoustics, it has become the matrix of many others in Greece. Even today, a cracked match in the center of the orchestra can be heard from any place. I was able to check it out when I was there.

Why reproduce it in LEGO? Because I love Ancient Greece, because my wife asked me for a LEGO theater, and for the challenge of reproducing this shape, made up of concentric curves and regular slopes.

Did I succeed? It's up to you to say it, but I kept the curvature of the theater, and an identical slope. Imagining adapted techniques was not an easy task! The building that serves as a stage is reconstructed from the remains on the ground and the work of archaeologists.

On the façade is inscribed EPIDAUROS in Greek letters, blue and white reminiscent of the sea and marble of Greece. On each side, the walls reproduce strata and the surfaces are irregular, as if the soil had been cut.

To bring a little life to the whole, I included two scenes with these minifigures that I love so much:

One shows Dionysus, the god of the vine and patron of the theater, accompanied by a satyr playing the flute and a Menad, usual members of his suite. They pass in front of a colonnade with a colorful frieze and two vines, attribute of the god of drunkenness.

The other shows the stage of the theater as it may have been: two actors on the stage, in height, facing the conductor of the choir who addresses them from the orchestra. I added two snakes, attributes of the healing god Asclepios to whom the sanctuary of Epidaurus was dedicated.

On each stage are columns with Ionic capitals, as was the case when the theater was in use.

To make the capitals, I changed my technique between the two scenes. These scenes can be stored under the theater, opening the side doors.

I spent about a year on it. I think there are between 2900 and 2950 pieces (a first version had more than 3200 pieces, so I use now little vegetation and big bricks for the sides). Hope you like the result!