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| July 9th - 7:30 am July 10th - 7:30 am July 11th - 7:00 pm 2005 Wheeler Ampitheatre - Located at Volker and Oak (In front of the Nelsons-Atkins Museum of Art and Brush Creek) |
| See the triumph of right over might, courage over fear, freedom over servitude, moderation over arrogance. The First Courtroom Drama The Eumenides (The Furies) is the last chapter of Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy the focuses on "the curse of the house of Atreus", written in 458 B.C. This marks Gorilla Theatre Productions' 15th annual Summer Greek Show. The play follows AGAMEMNON and THE LIBATION BEARERS, both produced by Gorilla Theatre the two previous summers. The Oresteia trilogy has been directed by James Dean Carter, with a new original score composed by Daniel A. Doss. AGAMEMNON told the story of the death of Agamemnon, king of Argos. He died at the hand of CLytemnestra, his wife, after his return from the ten year Trojan war. THE LIBATION BEARERS continued the journey with Agamemnon's children, Electra and Orestes. The siblings plotted to avenge their father's death. Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus (cousin to Agamemnon) die at the hands of Orestes. In THE EUMENIDES, the goddess Athena convenes a trial for Orestes. Apollo and the Furies (the goddesses of vengeance) argue against each other as to whether Orestes should pay for his crimes with death. The use of a trial to resolve such a bloody conflict was unprecedented, and heralds a new phase of civilized approaches to crime and punishment. Apollo represents the new order of light and civilization against the primitive Furies, who scream only for blood and more blood. Athena's acquittal of Orestes at the end of the play is a symbol of Athens' progression into a more civilized era. Moreover, Orestes' journey from boyhood to maturity is a metaphor for the transformation of Athenian society itself. THE EUMENIDES shows us the first representation, in western civilization, of a trial by a jury of 12 peers. Orestes' future hangs in the balance when Clytemnestra's ghost seeks the help of the Furies to bring Orestes to justice for her murder. The ancient Greek gods Athena and Apollo serve respectively as judge and counsel to Orestes at the trial. |
| Other Productions in this Trilogy of Plays: |
