PSU Presents A New Adaptation Of ELECRTA

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS and THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATER ARTS PRESENT:

Electra by Sophocles Northwest Premiere of a New Adaptation by Frank McGuinness Directed by Devon Allen, performances at Artists Repertory Theatre, Morrison Stage

Friday, March 6 - Saturday, March 14, 2009

Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m.
General admission tickets: $10
Seniors/Students/PSU Students: $8
"Shall there be killing after killing forever?"

In this new adaptation of Electra by Frank McGuinness, Sophocles' s 2000-plus-year-old story of revenge is grounded in the world of ancient Greece and its modern day war-torn counterparts. Stripped down to a plain-spoken ninety minutes, McGuinness brings this timeless story into the 21st century.

This classic of Greek tragedy revolves around Electra and her brother Orestes, who together take revenge on their mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, for the murder of their father Agamemnon. King Agamemnon who, when the gods demanded human sacrifice if he was to move his stalled ships forward during his war against Troy, killed his own daughter - their sister - Iphigenia. This left the oldest sister, Electra, his chief mourner and sworn avenger. To insure that vengeance (the murder of their mother and stepfather), she secreted her young brother Orestes away from harm in the care of a loyal servant to return when he was old enough to do the bloody deed. In the meantime, Electra lives as an embittered exile within the palace, baiting and battling her mother, while her sister Chrysothemis represents the conquered who is willing to compromise with the conqueror. Suitable for mature audiences of any stripe, the tale of this most dysfunctional of all families plays out to a bitter end - justice, as Electra sees it, must be done.

Irish playwright Frank McGuinness has won numerous awards including the London Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. McGuinness is now a writer-in-residence lecturing at University College Dublin.
2008-09 SEASON
Moliere's THE IMAGINARY INVALID

In a New Adaptation by Constance Congdon Directed by Glenn Gauer May 30 - June 7, 2009 at the Winningstad Theatre, PCPA

Oregon Premiere
*Please call (503) 725-4612 for more information, or visit www.theaterarts.pdx.edu.