The Oresteia

Agamemnon, Choephori, and The Eumenides

A Translation of Aeschylus’ Trilogy of Plays
by Ted Hughes
Directed by Gregory Thompson
Set/Costumes by Ellen Cairns

Tickets: $45 per play, $90 for the trilogy

** Note that the July 18, July 25, and August 1 marathon performances of the Oresteia are nearly sold out – please call the Box Office (845-758-7900) for more information. Tickets for other performances are still available through the online Box Office. **

The story of the Oresteia is one of interfamilial betrayal, murder, and equally murderous vengeance. Although it takes place in the aftermath of the Trojan War, it is as urgent and visceral as tonight’s television crime dramas or tomorrow’s morning headlines from Iraq. Written by Aeschylus, the plays that form the cycle—Agamemnon, Choephori, and The Eumenides—narrate the downfall of the House of Atreus, from the triumphant return of Agamemnon from Troy and his subsequent brutal slaying by his wife, Clytemnestra; through the revenge of the king’s daughter, Electra, and son, Orestes, against their mother; and to the pursuit of Orestes by the Furies, the fearsome deities who avenge matricide and patricide.

Gregory Thompson and Ellen Cairns, the acclaimed director-and-designer team that created the SummerScape 2007 production of Saint Joan, will stage this modern-dress version of antiquity’s greatest dramatic trilogy. Working from a masterful and accessible translation by Ted Hughes, the late Poet Laureate of England, Thompson and Cairns have invested the three plays with a contemporary resonance, drawing parallels to war in the Middle East, the behind-the-scenes machinations of politicians, and the manipulative duplicity of the media.

Agamemnon

• July 15 at 3 pm
• + July 18 at 11 am
• July 19 at 4 pm
• July 24 at 8 pm
• July 25 at 11 am
• July 30 at 8 pm
• August 1 at 11 am

Choephori

• July 16 at 8 pm
• + July 18 at 3 pm
• July 22 at 3 pm
• July 25 at 3 pm
• July 26 at 4 pm
• July 31 at 3 pm
• August 1 at 3 pm

The Eumenides

• July 17 at 8 pm
• July 18 at 7 pm
• July 23 at 8 pm
• July 25 at 7 pm
• July 29 at 3 pm
• August 1 at 7 pm
• August 2 at 4 pm

Oresteia Trilogy

To see the performances of the trilogy in order—and take advantage of the special price of $90!—choose one of the five series below (A, B, C, D, or E).

• Wednesdays, July 15, 22, and 29 at 3 pm
• + Saturday, July 18 at 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm
• Saturday, July 25 at 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm
• Saturday, August 1 at 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm
• Sundays, July 19, 26, and August 2 at 4 pm

+ Round-trip transportation by coach from Columbus Circle in NYC to the Fisher Center will be provided for this performance of the trilogy. Reservations are required. Call the Box Office for more information.