SST's Electra Festival features a major production of Sophocles’ Electra, using MacArthur-Award winner Anne Carson’s masterful translation. Electra tells the story of the daughter of Agamemnon, Electra, who plots revenge for her father’s murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra. Among the most demanding roles in Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ heroine preserves the memory of her father and the need to punish his assassins. Electra struggles for justice in a world that has abandoned it, where loyalty counts for little and forgetting is rewarded. The passion, power, and timeliness of Electra make for unforgettable theater. 

Directed by SST Artistic Director Rush Rehm, Electra includes a stellar cast (L. Peter Callender, Kay Kostopoulos, Valentina Conde, Courtney Walsh), along with a formidable design team. Original music by Michael Keck (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage), set design by Erik Flatmo (A.C.T., Berkeley Rep, CalShakes), costumes by Connie Strayer (TheatreWorks, Opera San Jose), and choreography by Aleta Hayes (Robert Wilson’s Temptation of St. Anthony, Jane Comfort Dance Company) guarantee the high standard that audiences expect from Stanford Summer Theater.

The Electra Festival also includes stagings of two earlier versions of the story, Aeschylus’ devastating Libation Bearers and Euripides’ strangely contemporary Electra. Using translations designed specifically for performance, these productions invite us into the wider world of fifth-century Athens and its fascination with revenge and justice in the aftermath of the Trojan War. A post-show discussion, led by Stanford Classics Professor Marsh McCall, follows each performance.

ELECTRA by Sophocles translated by Anne Carson directed by Rush Rehm July 23 – August 15, 2009 Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm Sunday matinee on August 9 at 2:00 pm Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University (Seating on stage)

Electra on Film:
Free Monday Film Series

The Electra Festival offers a free Monday night film series featuring Cacoyannis’ Iphigenia and Electra (with Irene Pappas, music by Mikis Theodorakis), Friedrich’s explosive film of the Strauss/Hofmannstahl opera Elektra (with Leonie Rysanek,Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karl Böhm), Visconti’s Vaghe Stelle dell' Orsa ("Dim Stars of the Big Bear,” released in the US as Sandra, with Claudia Cardinale), and von Trotta’s masterful reworking of the Antigone myth, Die Bleierne Zeit (“The Leaden Time,” released in the US as Marianne and Julianne). A discussion follows each film, led by Stanford faculty and SST artists.

Symposium:
Public and Private Vengeance—Electra and the Trojan War

To explore the Electra myth in various historical and political contexts, the Continuing Studies Program invites you to the symposium Public and Private Vengeance— Electra and the Trojan War. Interweaving lectures, short performances, and panel discussions, the symposium also includes a delicious outdoor Greek lunch (with retsina!) and a ticket for a performance of Sophocles’ Electra.

Symposium faculty include Richard Martin (Antony and Isabelle Raubitschek Professor in Classics); Jean-Marie Apostolidès (Professor of Drama and French), William Eddelman (Associate Professor of Drama, Emeritus), Ciara Murphy (PhD candidate in Drama), and SST artists.

Saturday, August 1
9:30 am – 5:00 pm
$80 (includes morning coffee, lunch, and afternoon tea and Greek cookies)
Event fee is non-refundable.

For more information on the companion course, “Heroines of Greek Tragedy: Electra, Clytemnestra, Antigone,” please click here.

Electra Festival Cast & Crew

Sophocles’ Electra
Davia Schendel: Young Electra
Courtney Walsh: Clytemnestra
James Kierstead: Agamemnon
L. Peter Callender: Old Teacher
Luke Taylor: Orestes
Patrick Davis: Pylades
Valentina Conde: Electra
Francesca McKenzie: Chrysothemis
Donnie Hill: Aegisthus
Chorus:
Katharine Hawthorne
Kay Kostopoulos
Ariel Mazel-Gee
Florentina Mocanu
Liz Stark
Deanna Tan

Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers
Donnie Hill: Orestes
Patrick Davis: Pylades
Kalean Ung: Electra
Luke Taylor: Servant
Courtney Walsh: Clytemnestra
Renee van Amerongen: Nurse
L. Peter Callender: Aegisthus
Chorus:
Katharine Hawthorne
Ariel Mazel-Gee
Francesca McKenzie
Sara Stalkfleet
Liz Stark
Deanna Tan

Euripides’ Electra
Bennett Fisher: Farmer
Laura Lowry: Electra
Patrick Davis: Orestes
Donnie Hill: Pylades
L. Peter Callender: Old Man
Luke Taylor: Messenger
Courtney Walsh: Clytemnestra
James Kierstead: Castor
Chorus:
Ariel Mazel-Gee
Francesca McKenzie
Sara Stalkfleet
Liz Stark
Deanna Tan
Renee van Amerongen