What Did Critics Think Of The Oresteia?
Simon Stone reimagines this epic Greek tragedy by Aeschylus
The reviews are in for The Oresteia, Simon Stone's bold new interpretation of Aeschylus's ancient Greek tragedy at the Bridge Theatre. Known for his contemporary reworkings of classic texts, Stone brings a modern lens to Aeschylus's trilogy of revenge, transforming the epic tale into a brutal and blood-soaked drama that explores the cycle of violence and its consequences. But what did the critics think?
The Oresteia Critic Reviews
"Simon Stone's patchwork tragedy is a gripping and exasperating epic. Mary-Louise Parker gives a powerhouse performance in a three-part drama that cuts up Aeschylus's chronology and adds shades of other plays."
- The Guardian
"His direction is masterful, as Lizzie Clachan's chilling glass home sickeningly rotates between each revelatory scene - one moment revealing a bloodied body in a bath, the next, a tense dinner party. Dark humour collides with grim horror until the final act, which becomes an unrelenting barrage of grief as the broken Augie (by the war in Afghanistan, but chiefly by his family) falls in and out of a fugue state, snatches of buried memories pushing through. There is no need for a trial as in the third part of the original trilogy. The startling burden of wasted life is laid bare."
- The Times
"Simon Stone's trashy true crime-influenced take on the great Greek tragedy is preposterous but incredibly good fun."
- TimeOut
"Thrillingly stripped back and bloody Greek tragedy
Simon Stone's adaptation is a stunningly modernised take on Aeschylus' devastating family drama."
- The Standard
"Greek tragedy finds new life as a bloody and brilliant modern murder mystery."
- The Independent
