EURIPIDES
ELECTRA
June 12 through September 26, 2015
With foreign language titles
This summer Ancient Drama finds a new home, a window to the world at Badminton Theater. Aspiring to approach the unequivocal material of ancient Greek dramaturgy, Badminton Theater presents Euripides Electra from June 12 through September 26, 2015.
The demand for a traditional production of high aesthetic value and quality to highlight Greek heritage to the wide audience of visitors to Athens during summer period has now been met with the “Ancient Drama Cycle” at Badminton Theater. It is a rare opportunity for both Greek and international audiences to experience Ancient Greek theater; the myths, the history, the ideals and the spirit of the cradle of civilization of Ancient Greece. Enhanced by translation titles and a program available in several foreign languages, Euripides Electra will be presented in the Greek language.
Under the expertise of the Greek director and academic, Professor Spyros A. Evaggelatos, with original text translation by K.X. Myris and set design by Yiorgos Patsas, the “Melina Merkouri Award” winner Marina Aslanoglou plays the role of Electra together with the highly acclaimed Reni Pittaki and Yannis Voglis and a cast of other renowned actors holding honors in theatrical performance.
Euripides’ Electra constitutes a profound study on the notions of revenge, guilt, repentance and justice; Electra and her brother are destined to kill their mother, Clytemnestra, in revenge for the murder of their father, Agamemnon. The plot centers on the unholy plan of the siblings and focuses on their emotional transitions. This work of Euripides was first noted in 413 B.C. introducing interesting narrative innovations. Its foundation lies primarily on the amazing delicacy in which the author dissects the psyche of the heroes making their ethical dilemmas even today, twenty five centuries later, seem vivid and compelling.
This summer join Badminton Theater as it embraces Ancient Drama, the quintessence of world theatre.
Synopsis
“Electra” part of the epic cycle of the works of Euripides, tells the story of the events that followed the murder of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Euripides Electra dates back to 413 B.C.
The story begins with Electra, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, in her life of hardship toiling on a farm far from the palace life she knew having been married off to a poor farmer who honors her exalted origins, laying no claim to his conjugal rights. Her wretched life and burdensome existence leaves her with one hope for relief in the return of her brother Orestes who has been away for many years. He secretly returns accompanied by his faithful friend Pylades with the plan to avenge his father’s murder. According to the Oracle of Apollo, Electra’s destiny is to be his accomplice in the revenge. The brother and sister reunite and under the guidance of the old man who aided Orestes’ flight as a child, they plot and accomplish their vengeance with the murder of Aegisthus and then of Clytemnestra.
Having killed their mother and step-father, the siblings find themselves in the depths of a psychological impasse unable to bear the weight of remorse. The resolution to their torment comes in the form of Divine Intervention when Castor and Pollux appear to Orestes and command him to Athens where he is subsequently acquitted by the Areopagus (Supreme Court) and Electra to follow Pylades as his wife to Phocis, near Delphi.
This tragic tale is a characteristic example of the development of Euripides’ technique and considered the significant foundation of what we now call Euripedean Theater: the internal struggle of right and wrong, the profound psychological truth, the successful study of human nature.
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