Agamemnon

In 2009, I collaborated with composer Michael Sirotta on a translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon with an original score. All sections of the play that would have been sung in the original Athenian performances (which included not only songs performed by the chorus but songs performed by principal characters together with the chorus) were set to music. This is rare in modern productions. 

We premiered the translation at the legendary La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Audiences for that production had difficulty understanding the lyrics. In 2011, we revised the translation and music for the first 20-minute chorus of the play and presented a workshop performance at the 14th St. Y. We succeeded in making the lyrics clear.

In 2020, Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) gave us a slot to present a concert reading of the whole play in its Spring New Works Series. In preparation for this reading, we revised all the sung sections as we had revised the opening chorus in 2011.

We all know what happened in the spring of 2020. After being rescheduled for the 2022 Spring New Works Series and canceling the performance due to a covid outbreak among the cast and staff, we presented a concert reading at Theater for the New City in June 2022.

Based on the feedback we have received, Michael and I have cut down and, in one case, eliminated, several of the sung sections in order to put the focus on the three most exciting choral passages. I have cut down the spoken scenes and speeches and revised them as adaptations rather than straight translations in order to make them more dramatic, fluid, and crisp.

We also realized that, for an audience to understand what is going on in the play, at least two sections need to be staged for our next reading.

EAT has given us a slot in its fall, 2023 series, now retitled the Spark Theatre Festival NYC.

Staging two sections of the play will require having the actors off-book, which will require more rehearsal, which will mean paying higher stipends and renting more rehearsal space. I estimate the fall performance will cost $20,000. We have applied for several grants and fellowships and are hoping to raise $10,000 from individual donors.

We would be grateful for whatever contribution you can make toward achieving this goal.

With affection and gratitude,

Alexander Harrington

Emerging Artists (EAT) is a 501 (c) (3 ) not-for-profit theater company, and all contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

More information about Emerging Artists Theatre Company: Emerging Artists (EAT) is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit theatre company. New York City based company that acts as an incubator for new voices from the page to the stage.