WeThree, In association with Ickle Pickle Productions Presents,

AGAMEMNON

At the Belconnen Community Theatre

Thursday 11th - Saturday 13th

and Wednesday 17th - Saturday 20th of June, 8pm,

And a very special performance at Carey’s Cave, Wee Jasper on Sunday, 14th of June.

Theatre Tickets are $20 and $15.

Bookings, Cave prices and Group discounts – 62512981.

When Agamemnon, conqueror of Troy, arrives home after ten years at war, he expects a hero’s welcome. Instead, he returns to a legacy of violence and betrayal, the reality of a reign which is founded on and sustained by brutality. His wife Clytemnestra has not forgiven the death of their daughter, sacrificed to the gods to further the war effort. The ancient bloody powers that haunt his house have not forgiven the trail of murder and ritual affront that established his family’s reign, and Agamemnon’s own victories.

Aeschylus’ complex and difficult play is rarely performed, perhaps because of its lengthy choral meditations on proper treatment of the gods, perhaps because the complex web of ritual association entangling its characters can be difficult for a modern audience to understand or appreciate. Even so, its drama is superbly crafted, its anti-heroine Clytemnestra is one of the towering figures of the theatrical canon, and Agamemnon is widely regarded as the greatest of the Greek plays.

Now WeThree are bringing their own take on Agamemnon to the Canberra stage. In this adaptation, award winning local playwright, Rachel Hogan, replaces the pontificating chorus of old men with a canny Wise Woman. She is the audience’s shrewd local guide through the alien landscape of ancient Mycenae, its beliefs and behaviours, and the metaphysical perils courted by the play’s protagonists. Ancient and modern combine in an evocative original score, created by jazz student and metal bassist Alex Johnson and international didge maestro Ian Wood. Local artists Helena Hills and Chandra Crowther have given the show a look very far removed from pastel tunics and white pillars. And six of Canberra’s gifted performers bring to life an archaic world of ritual, ecstasy, madness, and the inexorable call of blood….

Cast and Crew