The Clytemnestra Cycle is a reimagining of the epic Greek myth, The Oresteia, through an African-American lens. Spanning 50 years, 4 different presidential administrations, and several major historical events, the cycle follows a Black family through the years as they grapple with love, death, justice and the weight of generational trauma.
The Clytemnestra Cycle
The Clytemnestra Cycle is a reimagining of the epic Greek myth, The Oresteia, through an African-American lens. Spanning 50 years, 4 different presidential administrations, and several major historical events, the cycle follows a Black family through the years as they grapple with love, death, justice and the weight of generational trauma.
The Killing Fields
For Cly, the news of her husband’s early release from prison threatens to unravel everything she’s worked for. Set in East Oakland during the 1980’s crack epidemic, The Killing Fields re-imagines the story of Agamemnon through one mother’s epic struggle to rescue her daughter.
Time: 1989
Cast Requirement: 8 (5W, 3M)
Characters: Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Agamemnon, Iphigenia, Block Boy, Aerope, Pelopia, and Cassandra.
29 hour Developmental Workshop October 7-10, 2024 with presentation on Thursday, October 10th at 6pm
Written by: Anya Pearson, Princeton University Hodder Fellow
Directed by: Donya K. Washington
Featuring: Stephanie Berry, Biko Eisen-Martin, Todd Faulkner, April Matthis, Okieriete Onaodowan, Xavier Pacheco, Anya Pearson, Bridget Rose Perrotta, and Myra Lucretia Taylor
Casting by: Erica Jensen, CSA/Calleri Jensen Davis
Dramaturgy by: Louis DeVaughn Nelson
Produced by: Sophie Ancival, Melle Powers, Urban Haiku, and Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts
***
To inquire about producing this play,
please contact theclytemnestracycle@gmail.com
or Susan Gurman, Gurman Agency LLC, susan@gurmanagency.com,
(212) 749-4618 x3
Without A Formal Declaration of War
Synopsis: The War in Vietnam rages, a revolution brews, and the FBI targets the Black community while Clytemnestra finds herself, and the world, on the brink of great change. Set in the section of East Oakland that will come to be known as The Killing Fields, Without a Formal Declaration of War places characters from Aeschylus’ Agamemnon in 1969.
Time: 1969
Cast Requirement: 8+ (4W, 4-6M)
Characters: Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Agamemnon, Helene, Menelaus, Aerope, Pelopia, FBI Agent, Wounded Soldier, and Atreus.
29 hour Developmental Workshop October 21-25, 2024 with presentation on Friday, October 25th 2pm at La MaMa Studios, 47 Great Jones St
Written by: Anya Pearson, Princeton University Hodder Fellow
Directed by: Donya K. Washington
Featuring: Erin Cherry, William Demeritt, Chris Kelly, April Matthis, Anya Pearson, Nathan Ramsey, Brandon St. Clair, Antonio Woodard, and Eunice Woods
Casting by: Erica Jensen, CSA/Calleri Jensen Davis
Dramaturgy by: Louis DeVaughn Nelson
Produced by: Sophie Ancival, Melle Powers, Urban Haiku, and Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts
***
To inquire about producing this play,
please contact theclytemnestracycle@gmail.com
or Susan Gurman, Gurman Agency LLC, susan@gurmanagency.com,
(212) 749-4618 x3
To Be Written:
Currently Untitled Reimagining of The Libation Bearers
Set in 1996, during the Clinton Administration and the rise of mass incarceration, a local politician holds a town hall to interrogate the head of the CIA on its role in the crack epidemic of the 1980s. Meanwhile, Orestes makes it big in the music industry, Electra cannot stop chasing the ghosts, and Aegisthus is granted compassionate release to attend Pelopia's funeral.
1996
Cast Requirement: 8
Characters: Aegisthus, Clytemnestra, Orestes, Electra,
Currently Untitled Reimagining of The Eumenides
Set in 2020, the Furies have come calling. Set during the Trump administration, the world is on fire, the plague has descended, the racial reckoning has begun, and the descendants of the House of Atreus (or what's left of them) have chosen to survive by any means necessary.
Cast Requirement: 8