Columbia Rolls Out the Purple Carpet for CU Players' Agamemnon

While anyone can recognize the value of the literature studied in Literature Humanities, many students may find themselves wondering how it applies to anything but academia.

A few members of CU Players had a similar thought. They began asking themselves, as producer Ameneh Bordi said, “Why are we, the theater community at Columbia, not integrating with the Core?” Last semester, a few of the group’s members, including Bordi and director Maryalice Parks, proposed the idea of producing Agamemnon to the Core Curriculum Committee, which offered much encouragement and support. With additional support from various student councils and other groups, the cast of 16 has been rehearsing for the past month and a half, and it will be performing on Nov. 11, 14, and 16.

After struggling to secure a space for production, the team ultimately agreed to use two spaces—Agamemnon will be performed in Low Library on Nov. 11 and in Roone Arledge Auditorium on Nov. 14 and 16. Consequently, much of the challenge of producing this show has been making it adaptable to two very different spaces and using both within the span of a week.

If you skimmed this work or simply need a refresher, Agamemnon is the first play in Aeschylus’ tragic trilogy, the Oresteia. It tells the story of King Agamemnon’s homecoming after the Trojan War. Because he sacrificed his daughter before the play begins, Agamemnon is subsequently assassinated by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover.

While the text has all the elements of a classic Greek tragedy, Wednesday night’s rehearsal revealed that this performance will be far from traditional. There are no Greek pillars or statues on stage, but instead there are several creatively arranged door frames. Chorus lines are recited neither monotonously nor in unison, but are broken up and appropriated to different actors, accompanied by compelling choreography. Despite the long passages that characterize the text, the stage is full of movement.

The production and design teams have tried to make the show stimulating to a modern audience not merely with camouflage and coffee cups, but also by highlighting the play’s relevance to today’s issues. “The mom mourning over the loss of her son in the war—you know that. You’ve seen it on the news,” said Bordi.

Another striking aspect of this performance is the intimacy created between the actors and the audience. The staging of the play is nearly in the round, inviting the audience to feel like part of the action. “You are in the town. You can see the people, and you can see their faces and understand what’s going on with them,” said Bordi.

In facing many production obstacles, working with a difficult script, and striving for an innovative angle, those involved in the production of Agamemnon have had their hands full. “It really turned into quite a large project. I don’t think we knew quite how big it was going to be,” said Bordi. But it appears that the team’s ambition will be rewarded—they have produced a show that should not be missed.

Tickets are $3 in advance, $5 at the door, and free for Lit Hum students. They can be reserved by e-mailing CUAGAMEMNON@gmail.com.