The Oresteia
Based on Aeschylus, in a new adaptation by Robert Icke, translated into German by Ulrike Syha
“There is no single story – no single thread of truth running from beginning to end.” Three murders, a curse – and the question of what justice means today: With Robert Icke’s adaptation of *The Oresteia*, the Theater Vorpommern brings an ancient tale to the stage that feels unnervingly relevant today. The focus is less on the external events than on the psychological intensity of a destructive web of relationships, particularly between mother and son. The starting point seems almost familiar:
The family centred on the warlord Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra shares a moment of apparent normality – yet beneath the surface, an inevitable conflict is already simmering between political responsibility, military calculation and personal bonds. Agamemnon’s decision to sacrifice his own daughter, Iphigenia, for the sake of the state unleashes a spiral of vengeance that will irreversibly destroy the family’s order. Years later, when Agamemnon returns home as a war hero, he is brutally murdered by Clytemnestra, who in turn incurs the vengeance of her son.
Robert Icke transposes the over 2,500-year-old original into a present day characterised by new media and a culture of public judgement. Set against the backdrop of a court hearing, the production re-examines the fundamental questions of our civilisation: What distinguishes
revenge from justice? Where does society begin – and what causes it to break down?
A politically charged, gripping family drama.
Organiser: Theater Vorpommern