PETER PETKOVSEK

The story of Electra is part of the Greek mythology surrounding the Atreides family. Upon his victorious, but long overdue return from the Trojan War, the commander of the united Greek forces and king of Argos, Agamennon, is slaughtered by his wife Clytemnestra who takes an axe to him as he is bathing. She is taking revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia whom Agamemnon killed after the seer Tyresias prophesized that the sacrifice would be the only way to have the gods give favourable winds to the Greek fleet. Clytemnestra is also not happy with Cassandra, the Trojan seer mistress that Agamemnon brought home with him. She disposes of her as well and consorts with Aegisthus, her husband's cousin.

After the king's death, his son Orestes is sent into hiding while his daughter Electra stays in Argos pining for revenge. When Orestes finally returns, all there is left is to plot the death of the culprits. But will they be able to kill their own mother?

Electra is unique in the leftover cannon of Greek tragedies, because three versions of the story, from the three biggest playwrights (Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides) have survived till now. Each treats the material in his own way, showing us the changing social and itellectual context of the times. From a world full with gods and only starting to change into democracy in Aeschylus to a question of revenge in Sophocles and a much more ethic dillema in Euripides, Electra grows before our eyes into a red-blooded human being close to us.

The show, produced by the theatre company Teater Megaron, is almost exclusively based on the script by Sophocles, but has some additions of Euripides' version.