Aeschylus News

After two pandemic years, Bread & Puppet Theater returns to New York's Theater for the New City to present two urgently-needed political puppet shows. Crystal Field, executive Artistic Director of Theater for the New City, has been presenting Bread & Puppet's work in the former meat market and beloved downtown venue for decades.

Park Avenue Armory announced today its programming for the coming year, returning with a robust 2022 season of multidisciplinary productions and installations-–including new commissions, and world and North American premieres-–that offer bold visions for our future and timely reexaminations of our past.

Seen at major festivals around the world to huge acclaim, The Suppliant Women now comes to the Gulbenkian Arts Centre, Canterbury as the first production in a cycle of four plays to be presented over the next few years. 

Born out of pandemic necessity, the recently formed Isle Theater Company premiered a video-on-demand version of their new play, DO NOT MOVE STONES, a modern retelling of Aeschylus’ THE SUPPLIANTS. Beautifully filmed in the breathtaking outdoor setting of the rock quarry on Deer Isle, this modern version of an ancient classic demonstrates both the uncanny relevance of Aeschylus’ original and the compelling issues its story and characters present for a 21st century. Written and directed by Marvin Merritt IV and Anna Fitzgerald, DO NOT MOVE STONES tells the story of fifty sisters – intended as unwilling brides for their cousins to fulfill a contract based on property issues – who flee from the altar and sail to the rocky coast of Maine where they seek asylum at the home of Piero and his family, only to be pursued by their grooms. There, three of the sisters negotiate for their future, as all the nine characters come to reassess their perspectives and values.

Back in Play festival is headlined by Radical Reinventions, four 30-minute plays that give an irreverent and contemporary twist on the classics. Each of the Radical Reinventions plays is an irreverent, attitude filled and bold take on a classic by a distinctive voice in Welsh theatre.

EastLine Theatre in association with the Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts will present David Bullen's new play based on Greek tragedy, An Oresteia, or What We Have Seen, this November. Commissioned in response to current events, An Oresteia tells the ancient story of the fall of the house of Atreus beginning with the murder of Agamemnon and detailing its repercussions through the generations.

David Sefton, Director of Culture and Creative Projects at Gulbenkian Arts Centre said, “I'm proud and excited to bring you my first year's programme at the Gulbenkian. There are lots of changes and lots to get excited about.

'The Wayward Daughter of Judah the Prince' by Douglas Lackey begins in Palestine in the late second century C.E. Learn how to get tickets to the show, in which Hannah is the dutiful and learned daughter of Judah the Prince, compiler of The Mishnah--the core section of The Talmud.  She serves her father as his loyal daughter and scribe.

As summer theater aims for a comeback after the pandemic, the New York Euripides Summer Festival was compelled to present its 2021 lineup of Phoenician Maidens and Iphigenia at Aulis remotely, using Zoom, for the second summer season, due to the strict regulations applicable for indoor rehearsing and performing.

The Tony Award-winning theatre has announced a fresh season of work – on its various stages in the East Village - that explores new rituals of our time from a multiplicity of perspectives and speaks to the epic changes of the 21st century.

In collaboration with the Reach Performing Arts Center (RPAC) and in partnership with Island Heritage Trust, ANNA + MARVIN will stage an outdoor production of Do Not Move Stones at Stonington's historic granite quarry with performances on August 27, 28, and 29.

For their 38th season at Undermain they are creating an exciting array of diverse performance opportunities to inspire and enrich our community and support artists in North Texas. They hope to be able to offer live performances in addition to the virtual streaming videos for each production. 

PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project), in association with Middlebury College, will open its summer program tonight, as part of its 34th year, running July 9 - August 16, 2021.

Each show premieres virtually on Friday at 7:30pm ET (July 9, July 23 & August 13). After the Friday premiere the stream will be available On Demand for four days - then disappears. Reservations are required to receive a link and password.

Theatre for a New Audience will present a new virtual production of The Oresteia, the New York premiere of Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation and translation of Aeschylus’ trilogy, featuring music composed by Kamala Sankaram, directed by Andrew Watkins (TFANA, as Assistant Director: The Winter's Tale, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Father, A Doll's House).

Reading Greek Tragedy Online was created during the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown when Paul O’Mahony, Artistic Director of award-winning Brighton based theatre company Out of Chaos found all three of his upcoming UK tours cancelled.

Less than a week later, Reading Greek Tragedy Online's first live episode streamed, scene readings of Euripides' Helen. From there, performances continued, weekly, throughout 2020 and by the end of the year, the project had engaged 115 actors and academics (who provide analysis and discussion as part of each 90-minute episode) from the UK, US, Canada, France, Mexico, Greece, Australia, Cyprus and India.

Hosted by Joel Christensen of Brandeis University, each episode is a modern, accessible, and informative exploration of a classic text, read in English. The project has intended to create community during a time of enforced separation, to foster dialogues between actors and academics, and to create a unique educational resource for a wide range of students. As part of the project's educational commitment, each episode (both live stream and YouTube hosted recording) can be accessed for free.

American Shakespeare Center's artistic director since 2018, Ethan McSweeny, has resigned, effective February 11.

The Tank announced today upcoming programming for March 2021. Presented in association with The Center at West Park, Glass Town by Miriam Pultro (Comings and Goings) and directed by Daniella Caggiano (Fun Home) will stream on CyberTank on Friday March 19, 2021 at 7:30PM ET.