THEATRE + COMEDY

The University of Houston - Center for Creative Work at The Honors College presents Dionysia 2011: Agamemnon, April 8-10 in the U of H Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre, and April 11 at Khon's Bar in Midtown.

Aeschylus' Agamemnon is the play for the 2011 Dionysia events. Center for Creative Work students and actors from the community are hard at work in rehearsals for the new translation (by Dr. John Harvey) of this bloody, intense play.

AGAMEMNON is the first play of a trilogy, of three pieces dealing with successive stages of a tragic story. This is the only Greek trilogy which survives complete. It was not brought out until B.C. 485, possibly after the poet's death. The story of the whole trilogy has a striking similarity to that of Hamlet, as it presents the murder of a king by the paramour of the queen, and the subsequent vengeance taken by the son of the murdered man.

In Agamemnon, we see the king return from Troy, to be welcomed treacherously by his false wife and to be slain by her and her accomplice. In the second play of the series, the Choëphori, we are made spectators to the vengeance of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, with the slaying of the assassins; and in the third piece, the Eumenides, we see the atonement made by Orestes for his matricide.

Of all the extant tragedies of Aeschylus,  Agamemnon is probably the most effective when acted before a modern audience. Simple as the plot is, it abounds in moments of tense suspense; and the thick horror of the unseen murder of the king can be paralleled only by the similar moment in Macbeth. 

Performances:
April 8 & 9, 8 pm at Wortham Theatre
April 10 matinee, 2 pm at Wortham Theatre
April 11, 8 pm at Khon's Bar in Midtown

Tickets are free, but reservations are required. For reservations, please call the School of Theater and Dance's box office at 713.743.2929.

You're also invited to these other Dionysia events:

Opening Night Agora & Ekphrastic Art Exhibit
Join us for this opening night reception at 6:45 pm on April 8th in the Honors College Commons (212 MD Anderson Library). Attendees will enjoy food, drink, and an art exhibit; attendees will the process across campus to the theater.

Klytemnestra: The Original Subversive Female
http://divergencevocaltheater.org

Each Spring, the Center for Creative Work (CCW) produces and performs an original translation of Greek tragedy or comedy during the traditional festival time for the Athenian City Dionysia. Directors, choreographers, costumers, musicians, and actors from The Honors College and the Houston community combine to create a performance steeped in research and creative development. The future of the Dionysia lies in its ability not only to bring together the UH community, but also to reach out to the city of Houston through performances and conferences.