The Oresteia Tickets

Reasons to see The Oresteia at the Bridge Theatre

Yes, I know you are disappointed that Chris Pine won’t be on the London stage until 2027 in Ivanov at the Bridge Theatre, but the postponement offers the opportunity for rising levels of anticipation (like looking forward to a holiday booked months in advance) and could just make way for the show of the year. To fill the slot, writer/director Simon Stone is instead turning his attention to that big daddy of revenge tragedies, Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, first performed in 458 BC. Your added bonus is that it stars David Morrissey, Mary-Louise Parker, Tom Glynn-Carney and Rosie Sheehy. 

Won’t it be a bit old and crumbly?

Well, yes, it is extremely old and the only complete trilogy of plays to survive from Ancient Greece, but it’s also an award-winner. It won first prize at the city of Athens festival of Dionysia. So, it was the Olivier Award winner of its day. Apparently, there was a team of judges, but they were strongly influenced by how hard the audience clapped; clearly, an early version of the clapometer was in operation for the judging process.

So, what’s it about?

Revenge and justice. In the first play, Agamemnon returns triumphant from the Trojan Wars but is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra, who, not surprisingly, hasn’t got over the fact he sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to appease the gods and get a fair wind to set sail to Troy. In the second play, the husband and wife’s son, Orestes, murders his mum to avenge his dad’s murder. In the third play Orestes is pursued by the Furies demanding that Clytemnestra is avenged. So it’s three plays condensed into one, asking, 'Can the cycle of revenge and generational trauma ever be broken?' 

Ok, I like a bit of revenge, but it still feels as if it will be all Greek to me.

It might well do so if it were not for the fact that it is being rewritten and directed by Simon Stone, who has a real knack for bringing old and older texts right up to date. He had a huge hit with a knock-out version of Lorca’s Yerma set in contemporary London with Billie Piper in the lead, and he did a brilliant Medea set in contemporary America.  So, this version is about a family in the here and now, not one living thousands of years ago. Stone has previously said of his work, “What if it’s about you? " What if it’s a very old story about you?” This version of The Oresteia will be, and it will raise questions: how does society deal with a father who has killed his daughter and a son who slays his mum? Those questions are as pertinent to us today as they were in Ancient Greece. 

The incessant sounds of clocks ticking as you entered the auditorium for Oresteia at Trafalgar Studios gave the impression that it was only a matter of time: that we were simply waiting for the hammer to fall. And when it fell, it hit hard.

Oresteia, currently playing at Trafalgar Studios, is a contemporary retelling of the Greek tragedy. Adapted by Robert Icke (who also adapted 1984), the production is passionate, subtle and stylistic. The more you think about Oresteia, the better it gets.