1 The Living Art of Greek Tragedy Marianne McDonald, Ph.D., MRIA ...

This is also a meditation on sexuality and violence. Dressed in underwear with her legs
spread apart, Electra castrates the corpse of Aigisthus. Orestes uses the same knife to kill his
mother, embracing her and finally straddling her as he strikes her repeatedly. Electra tries to kill
herself with the same knife, which Orestes snatches from her, and then clasps her in his arms as
he spits out his words in an orgasmic scream while embracing her.
This Clytemnestra also is symbolic of the Japanese mother who wields great power over
the child, but who as a wife is almost powerless. As in ancient Greece, she is confined to the
home for much of her life, so her main freedom is in raising her child. It is through her child that
she gains her freedom and her vengeance.
In the trial scene (from the Eumenides), the gods Apollo and Athena (two men, with
obvious facial hair) are dressed in traditional ancient Japanese feudal costumes. The Furies (also
men) are dressed in black; Orestes and Electra are in informal modern dress.
Tyndareus is dressed in 19 th century Meiji costume. He hits Orestes with an umbrella.
Orestes throws the knife with which he kills his mother into a Marlboro wastebasket. Modern
Japanese music is combined with music from Noh. The past mingles with the present, East with
West.
In France in 1990-92 Ariane Mnouchkine mounted a multicultural production of Les
Atrides (Iphigénie à Aulis d'Euripide, trans. Jean et Mayotte Bollack, L' Orestie d'Eschyle:
Agamemnon, Les Choéphores, trans. Ariane Mnouchkine, Les Euménides, trans. Hélène Cixous).
This production came to BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in 1992. She incorporated
elements from Kathakali, Brazilian, Kabuki and Noh traditions. Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil
is no stranger to cultural diversity. She takes Greek tragedy and translates it into French, using
actors and actresses from various cultures - the European countries, the Middle East, South
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