Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre, with Director Csaba Horváth, has put on a production of the Ancient Greek tragedy Orestes, with a somewhat modern visual spin. Written by Euripides in 408 BCE, the play explores the lasting impact of blood feuds and the necessity of replacing these with a modern civic legal process. The play focuses on the concept of earthly justice and how it is to be served, maintained and – ultimately – by whom.
The play explores the consequences of Orestes’ matricide. The young Orestes murders his mother Clytemnestra, at the advice of the god Apollo. A sense of deep and endless guilt hangs over Orestes and it seems that only his sister, Electra, is able to offer some degree of comfort. Meanwhile, some key political players seek to put Orestes to death for his crime. Orestes hopes that his uncle Menelaus may intervene and find a way to spare his life, but matters become rather more complicated…
Margaret Rachel Kitzinger of Vassar College, in an article published in the American Journal of Philology, wrote that the Ancient Greek poet’s aim was “to create drama, which conveys the constantly shifting ground of communication: (verbal, sexual and social) between human beings.” Mr. Horváth’s production in the Radnóti Színház, starring Tamás Rétfalvi as Orestes, certainly explores each of these forms of communication and the concept and nature of justice.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
The 2014 production of Orestes at Budapest’s Radnóti Theatre. Photo: Bea Gergely.
