Oresteia

Theater Faction begins its inaugural season with a new adaptation of Aeschylus’ Oresteia. Each part of the trilogy is adapted and directed by three different directors creating a contemporary triptych. Each director pursues his own vision without knowledge of the other interpretations until the three fifty-minute versions collide in the same evening. Ranging from the highly technical, visual, and experimental to traditional stagings, Theater Faction gives the fertile text a distinct post-modern edge.

Drawing from the 1960’s performance artists, Erik Nelson¹s Agamemnon explores unconventional storytelling through a collage of television, film, music, disembodied characters and performance. By using the base of the Greek myth, Mr. Nelson explores war, murder, morality, responsibility and the media with stunning visuals, presidential addresses and the history of hopscotch.

The Mourners, adapted from Libation Bearers and directed by Yuval Sharon, concentrates on the hopelessness of a society trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of violence from the underdog¹s point of view. When Orestes returns to avenge his father, the piece uses found text to ask the question: Can one revolt against the ruling order without resorting to violence?

Eumenides, adapted by David Johnston and directed by Kevin Newbury, is the final episode in Oresteia. Orestes is judged for killing his mother by the gods. With violent fits of guilt, haunting ghosts and the changing of the power of judgment, Eumenides places the power of society in humans’ hands.