Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama's latest set of productions is The Oresteia Project, based on the ancient Greek trilogy The Oresteia, by Aeschylus. The actors are all seniors of the Drama Department, who have been working on the The Oresteia Project since last year in their acting class. Director Jed Harris is using The Oresteia to explore the rise of democracy, sexism against women, and the evolution of the avant garde theater. The trilogy consists of three plays, Agamemnon, Choephorae, and Eumenides, but they are being presented in two parts: Agamemnon as one play, and the final two as another. All are playing at the Purnell Center from April 11 until April 28.

Agamemnon is the story of title character, Agamemnon, King of Argos (played by Jordan Dean), returning from the ten-year siege against Troy to his home in Greece. However, his court is in a sorry state, plagued by the haunting curse of an ever-present crowd of beast-like daemons, confused and conflicted elders, and a queen who has shunned him because he sacrificed their youngest daughter for good winds. Also, the queen has taken a secret relationship with Aegisthus (CFA senior Jackson Tobiska), Agamemnon's cousin.

As Agamemnon returns to his throne, his queen, Klytemnestra (CFA senior Michelle Wong) has him walk upon a crimson and purple carpet, which represents his admittance to the crime of murdering his daughter. Soon after, Klytemnestra kills Agamemnon in the bedroom as if he were a sacrifice as vengeance for her daughter's life. Meanwhile, Kassandra (CFA senior Liz Fenning), the cursed prophet who Agamemnon brought back from Troy, is confronted by the old men of the court. She tells of curse and death, and then submits to death by Klytemnestra's hands herself. In the last scene of the play, Klytemnestra comes out to defend her reasoning to murder her husband as a way to end the curse on the house, which began with Agamemnon's father Atreus killing Aegisthus' siblings and feeding them to Aegisthus' unwitting father, Thyestes. Eventually, Aegisthus arrives to claim Agamemnon's throne. The play ends in high tensions with word of Agamemnon's son, Orestes, coming to avenge the death of his father.

The play is a spectacular show of raw primal passion from beginning to end, due to the set location and inventive costume designs.  Having a play take place in the lobby of the Purnell Center may seem unprofessional at first, but Directors Matt Gray and Jed Allen Harris have used the setting to present the heart-pounding force of the play up close and personal, and also to surround the audience in beating drums, panting, screaming, and singing from each side and above as well. Despite the location, the set design is practical, smart, and subtly decorative. Banners and candlelit stubs of columns mark the "stage" area, but action occurs from all sides, around and above. Lastly, a net of over a hundred little girls' dresses, all dyed red and sewn together, give a haunting ambiance to set. The costumes of many characters match the tattered look of the net of dresses, especially those of the animalistic daemon horde that dances to and fro throughout the play. The daemon chorus is balanced with the reserved chorus of the wise court elders who narrate and suggest the course of the story.  

The School of Drama's version of Agamemnon is an amazing experience of sheer acting prowess in an emotional story of hope, frustration, and shame. Although the story of the returning king may be hard to follow at times, it is a very well written seamless play that lives up to the reputation of being the start an epic Greek tale. The ending is mysteriously satisfying, yet leaves you curious as to the fate of Klytemnestra while you regain your breath from an engrossing hour of visceral drama.

The second part of The Oresteia Project consists of Choephorae and Eumenides, with a 15-minute intermission between.  

Choephorae follows the tension originated from the first part of the Project, Agamemnon. Orestes (played by Rich Dreher) returns home to avenge the death of his father Agamemnon. Under the command of Apollo (played by Matt Burns) and the pressure of the Chorus and his sister Elektra (played by Melissa Tang), Orestes kills his mother Klytemnestra (played by Michelle Wong) and her lover (Jackson Tobiska).  

Choephorae is the only part of the Project that has the traditional stage-seat setting. The sitting area is confined to the lower part of the theater, forcing a close proximity between the actors and the audience. With Apollo descended from the ceiling and the others inching, dancing their way toward the center of the stage, there is a certain eerie tension created that cannot be imagined being created any other way, and which reinforces Orestes's inner struggle. Choephorae ends dramatically with Klytemnestra and Aegisthus's deaths, Orestes's heightened guilt and shame, and a man in suit whispering, "Will it ever end?"

The Eumenides tells the story of Orestes (now played by Robert Maxhimer) on trial for matricide. Although the Furies (Joseph Byrd, Antwayn Hopper, Devin Ilaw, and Stephen Rosenberg), the goddesses of vengeance and justice, threaten Orestes to confess, with Apollo's protection, the biased jury, and flighty judge Athena (Susan Goodwillie), Orestes is pronounced "not guilty."

This part of the trilogy is the most unconventional. The audience is led to the backstage where the play takes place as the Furies, all males in drag, are still putting on their makeup, dressing, and singing casually. Behind a set of full-length glass doors, the dead couple Klytemnestra and Aegisthus are back alive and watching, as if they were watching the trial with the audience. The play makes use of modern technology, such as live television and video/film. Eumenides takes full advantage of audience engagement and the ease of switching focus by using the video camera. The performance is powerful and creative. It challenges the traditional staging and interprets dramatic elements such as sound and lighting in a new way.

Learn more about The Oresteia Project and the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama at The School of Drama's website. Tickets for Agamemnon and Choephorae and Eumenides are also available online, and at the Purnell Center box office. 

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