Oresteia reunion and exhibition staged at Oxford University

17 November 2011

The 30th anniversary of the landmark production of the Oresteia at the National Theatre, directed by Peter Hall in Tony Harrison’s translation, is being celebrated in a reunion and exhibition at Oxford University on Saturday 19 November 2011.

This Oresteia, which pioneered new modes of stylized acting and rhythmical delivery, was the first professional attempt in the English-speaking world to stage Greek tragedy with masks. Harrison’s percussive translation was combined with a newly commissioned score from Harrison Birtwistle. Despite anxieties on part of the NT’s Marketing Department, Peter Hall’s five-hour production (whose cast included Tony Robinson) went on to thrill audiences and to inspire theatres across the world to stage Greek plays.

'It is wonderful that we can reunite so many of the people responsible for bringing the Oresteia to the stage in 1981,' said Dr Fiona Macintosh, Director of the APGRD based in the Classics Faculty. 'The Oresteia was a truly landmark event because before then, the idea of staging a Greek tragedy - let alone the three that comprise Oresteia – in such an unnaturalistic and ‘foreign’ manner was seen as outlandish and not at all commercially viable.'

Sir Peter Hall, Tony Harrison and the actor Greg Hicks (the original Orestes in 1981) will appear in conversation alongside Professor Oliver Taplin of Oxford's Classics Faculty who attended rehearsals of the production. Dr David Beard will also discuss and illustrate Birtwistle’s music, which remains unpublished.

An accompanying exhibition will display a number of important items related to the Oresteia, including some of the original masks designed by Jocelyn Herbert, Tony Harrison’s notebooks, Birtwistle’s instruments, as well as a unique selection of papers and photographs from the production process. The exhibition will be open for view in the Classics Centre on St Giles’ from 3pm.

The NT Oresteia ran not for weeks but for months and had the unique distinction of being the first foreign-language production to be allowed to perform in Greece's famous ancient theatre at Epidavros in Summer 1982.

Journalists are invited to attend the event on Saturday 19 November - please email matt.pickles@admin.ox.ac.uk to request a place. If you are unable to attend, we can arrange phone interviews with those involved. The exhibition will be viewed from 3pm in the Classics Centre, 66 St Giles’, Oxford.  Talks will be given by director Peter Hall, playwright and poet Tony Harrison and cast member Greg Hicks from 5-6.30pm in the Taylorian Main Hall and Greg Hicks will give a performance as Orestes from 6.30pm-7pm. Dr Fiona Macintosh is available to be interviewed on Fiona.macintosh@classics.ox.ac.uk or 07956989875