‘Agamemnon’ was a play I had worked on before whilst at university. It was a very physical, heavily edited version that was about thirty minutes long. A poet had adapted it so the sparse dialogue and language used was highly poetic and ‘flowery’. However, the spine of the story remained and this was what I wanted to do as well. The first thing I did was think about a modern equivalent to the Trojan War that is the backdrop to the play. This was relatively easy as, sadly, there are many conflicts around the world so using the middle east would hopefully make it bang up to date. In the play, King Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter before he goes to war to appease the Gods and he hopes this will bring him victory. Trying to make a modern audience understand this concept would be difficult but by suggesting that it had been a massive media event that the public had been fully aware of and followed at least might give the audience some idea of the magnitude of Agamemnon’s action and the fact that it is the catalyst of all future events in the play and beyond as it continues in Aeschylus’ Oresteia cycle. The dialogue I have used is modern and a lot is taken from newspaper headlines and articles that report wars. I have put these into the mouths of the Chorus who represent the people and want to know the latest news of the war as events unfurl. The King and Queen in the play I have very deliberately made recognisable by giving them direct quotes and lines from past leaders whose actions might be what you could call, divisive! As the tragedy becomes clear, the people (Chorus) look for answers and leadership but only receive more chaos. Something that I’m sure some people are feeling at this very moment with events that have happened in this country recently.
In complete contrast I had ‘Lysistrata’ Aristophanes’ farcical comedy. Unlike ‘Agamemnon’ I had more of a stricter remit in adapting the play. Whole Hog has gone into partnership with New College, Swindon’s talented Performing Arts Department and this Greek Drama Double Bill will see students as audience members, and hopefully, cast members. A-Level students will be studying ‘Lysistrata’ for their exam but by looking at the play from the point of view of a theatre practitioner, in this case Bertolt Brecht. Therefore, my adaptation is full of Brechtian techniques, very specific stage directions and choice of music which attempts to still make the play funny but with an underlying message, something Brecht is all about. The fact that Brecht uses Greek Drama devices in his plays and in staging theatre also feeds into the adaptation. Theatre was considered so important in Ancient Greek that all citizens were made to see plays for their education and development, a theory that is the backbone of Brecht’s ideas and philosophy on theatre.
Auditions will be underway late summer with performances at the end of October. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to be at rehearsals but I know that Mike and Fenella will do a great job with both texts and I look forward to seeing them performed.