Greek Theater In An Oresteia

The Rutgers Theater Company’s production of An Oresteia, provided a contemporary view on greek theater. In a three part performance, the audience got an interesting point of view on each of the main characters. Most people think of greek theater as a long, boring, tragedy; however, the use of music, modern interpretation, and the actors talent helped to modernize the show. While some choices took the performance in a strange direction, the connections and relationships between the actors are what kept the show going. Throughout the performance, music was incorporated to help tell the story. The band, furies, comprised of a guitarist, beat boxer, pianist, and singers, took the complex greek language and simplified it into song. While the …show more content…
Each actor was commanding and strong enough in their character to help keep the show moving forward while keeping the audience members informed and included in the story. Electra gave a powerful performance throughout the production. Her emotional life was the strongest throughout both parts of the play. While her part did call for attention to the emotional state of the character, the actor was on stage for a majority of the second and third part of the show, and she was never not in the moment with everyone on stage with her. The actress also changed emotions throughout, which helped because there is a tendency for Electra to be angry throughout. In addition to Electra, the actor playing Apollo captivated and commanded the audience the moment he walked on stage. While he had fewer lines than many of the other characters, his actions spoke much louder. In addition, he beatboxed and created interesting sound effects himself, which helped to keep audiences captivated by him. Ultimately, in the final scene, the actor lived up to the god like persona that he conveyed throughout the performance by playing Apollo as a big shot TV show host. Overall, the actor provided interesting movements to interest the audience and provided the elaborate ending that Greek theater calls for. The production of An Oresteia by the Rutgers Theater Company was overall enjoyable. The language of the show was easy to follow and made for a more enjoyable experience. While the music was overbearing at times and the costumes did not have a consistent theme, the actors were able to convey challenging roles