Simon Stone's The Oresteia Blends Aeschylus With Modern Drama

Simon Stone's production "The Oresteia," staged at the Bridge Theatre in London, presents a contemporary adaptation of Aeschylus's ancient Greek trilogy. While acknowledging its roots in Aeschylus, the play "after Aeschylus and Others" also weaves in thematic and narrative threads from other Greek tragedies, including "Antigone," "Medea," and potentially "Oedipus Rex." The first part of the three-part drama remains the most faithful to Aeschylus's original narrative and is described as supremely gripping.

The central plot, concerning Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia and his subsequent murder by his wife Clytemnestra, followed by their son Orestes's revenge, is recontextualized within a modern, affluent family. The characters include Christopher (David Morrissey), a tech company executive, his wife Montie (Mary-Louise Parker), an American with an alpha personality, and their children: Augie (Tom Glynn-Carney), an offstage troublemaker named Isabel, and her twin sister Alice (Rosie Sheehy). Their privileged lifestyle is highlighted by references to Bollinger champagne used as a cooking wine and their home's design, which resembles that of an upscale hotel chain.

Mary-Louise Parker delivers a powerful performance in the role of Montie. The play's structure involves a significant rearrangement of Aeschylus's original chronology, creating a "patchwork tragedy" that is both compelling and, at times, exasperating for the audience. The production aims to explore the epic themes of the Oresteia through a modern lens, examining familial conflict and revenge within the context of contemporary wealth and power.