The Puppet Oresteia (2008)

[The Puppet Oresteia]

Contents:


I – Iphigenia
or: Happy Families

[Iphigenia in Tauris]

Prologue (in front of the curtain)
Cassandra:
Chorus 1 - Cursed with prophecy

Scene 1: The Palace at Mycenae
(a bedroom off the garden): Iphigenia & Orestes

Cassandra:
Chorus 2 - I ran through the wood

Scene 2: The Seashore at Aulis [calm]
(in front of the bach): Agamemnon & Calchas

Cassandra:
Chorus 3 - Little girl lost

Scene 3: The Seashore at Aulis [calm]
(inside the bach): Calchas & Iphigenia

II – Cassandra
or: Payback is a Bitch

[Greek Girl with Dove]

Cassandra:
Chorus 4 - Joy lives with those

Scene 1: The Palace at Mycenae
(the master bedroom): Aegisthus & Clytemnestra

Cassandra:
Chorus 5 - Cursed with second sight

Scene 2: The Palace at Mycenae
(a guest bedroom off the garden): Agamemnon & Cassandra

Cassandra:
Chorus 6 - See how Apollo

Scene 3: The Palace at Mycenae
(outdoor jacuzzi): Aegisthus, Clytemnestra & Orestes

III – Orestes
or: Never say Never

[Flaxman: Clytemnestra]

Cassandra:
Chorus 7 - The labour pains

Scene 1: The Seashore at Tauris [stormy]
(on the beach): Orestes & Pylades

Cassandra:
Chorus 8 - There she goes

Scene 2: The Seashore at Tauris [calm]
(in front of the bach): Iphigenia & Thoas

Cassandra:
Chorus 9 - Drops of holy water

Scene 3: The Seashore at Tauris [calm]
(inside the bach): Iphigenia, Orestes & Pylades

Epilogue
Cassandra:
Chorus 10 - Noise is like flame

[J. M. Barrie, "Mary Rose" (1920)]

Oresteia - Chorus (7)

[Adolphe Bouguereau: "The Remorse of Orestes" (1862)]

Cassandra:

The labour pains
of prophecy
possess me

once again
See those creatures
squatting on

the house?
Dark shapes
like children

murdered
by their parents
trading bites

of their own
flesh
the tainted meal

your father tasted
Revenge
is on its way

They’re after you

[Aeschylus, Agamemnon: ll.1215-25].

[Image source]

Oresteia - Chorus (6)

[Clytemnestra kills Cassandra]

Cassandra:

See how Apollo
strips me
rips my robes

like my
so-called friends
at siege’s end

blaming me
for the burning towers
their ruined homes

but now at last
he’s finished
with me

no altar here
to cling to
a chopping block

instead
slaughtered
like a heifer

Just you wait

[Aeschylus, Agamemnon: ll.1265-80].

[John Collier: "Clytemnestra" (1882)]