Die Orestie

The most famous murder in Greek tragedy takes place in a bathtub. Clytemnestra, Queen of Argos, kills her husband Agamemnon after his victorious return from the Trojan War. She acts out of revenge, because he sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to secure favourable winds. But Clytemnestra’s triumph does not last long. Her own son, Orestes, kills her with a sword to avenge Agamemnon’s death. From that moment on, Orestes is hunted by the Erinyes, spirits of revenge, who follow him from the temple in Delphi all the way to Athens. There, under the authority of the goddess Athena, he is put on trial. In the end, the jury acquits him. But is this famous victory of law over blood revenge also a victory of justice?

Australian director Adena Jacobs questions this. She brings THE ORESTEIA to the stage in a version that focuses on the crimes committed against Iphigenia and Clytemnestra. What happens to the anger that remains after the murder of daughter and mother? To the rage that cannot be calmed by Athena’s command: “You must not be angry, women”? Adena Jacobs works in the neglected in-between spaces of antiquity, combining theatre, dance, and video art into a feminist total work of art.