The Iphigenia Cycle consists of three parts:
The setting of the original plays was the beginning and aftermath of the Trojan War. This adaptation is set in the period 1957-1970.
A music theatre piece, The Iphigenia Cycle is not a traditional musical, but each play contains songs and choral odes written in a contemporary mode
The Iphigenia plays were produced at the Penn State Hazleton Campus in April of 1998; the music was composed and arranged by Jeremy dePrisco.
Steve Schrum is continuing work on the adaptation.
The remaining plays have as composer Brandon Spangler, and we hope to have the work completed for a presentation of the entire Cycle in Spring of 2000 at the University of Charleston.
#l Iphigenia in Aulis (Euripides)
A) Set in 1957
B) Men dressed in military garb; women are society matrons and art
league ladies
C) They are preparing for war, but gods hold them back
D) Agamemnon's sacrifice of his own daughter allows them to go on
E) Society is very traditional; even Achilles is part of the
military-industrial complex
#2 Agamemnon (Aeschylus)
A) Set in 1967
B) Chorus of older politicians
C) This new wonder, Television, is the light that brings the news to
Clytemnestra and the Herald
D) Return of the glorious war-hero who is then killed by his wife
#3 The Libation Bearers (Aeschylus)
A) Set in 1968
B) The young people are splitting off from their elders
C) The older people still wear "establishment" clothing
D) The young people are dressed in the beginnings of Haight-Ashbury
"summer of love" fashions
E) Is Orestes' vision of the Furies really a drug-induced hallucination?
#4 The Eumenides (Aeschylus)
A) Set in 1969
B) All is Easy Rider and Woodstock
C) Orestes, with the help of a god and a court of law, is brought back
to safety
D) The Furies, a dark force unleashed by murder, are turned into helpers
#5 Iphigenia in Tauris (Euripides)
A) Set in 1970
B) Thoas is a cult figure, maybe a Jim Jones (Guyana) kind of guy
C) Orestes finds Iphigenia alive, and rescues her.
D) Order is finally restored to the House of Atreus
The Cycle consists of four acts:
Links to photos and other info about the production:
THE ARGOS NEWS NETWORK presents a look back onthe Trojan War.
For more information on the play or the music, contact Steve Schrum or Jeremy dePrisco