Aeschylus, War Plays

With Aeschylus, War Plays, Olivier Py directs in a single movement the author's four surviving plays, not counting The Oresteia. This theatre, the most ancient we know of, unfolds around the Mediterranean and questions the foundations of democracy. The madness of power, the place of women, the question of asylum, the memory of the dead, the power of images, and insurrection: Aeschylus speaks from an ancient world that is nonetheless already ours. On a naked stage, three actors with a long experience with tragedy play gods and supplicants, kings and old men, the ocean and the crowds. 

Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.) is the oldest of the three great Greek tragedians. Of his work have only survived a trilogy, The Oresteia, and four plays, brought together by Olivier Py in Aeschylus, War Plays. Their simple plots give centre stage to the tales of heroes, the expression of longing, and to lyricism. A veteran of the battles of Marathon and Salamis, Aeschylus is at once the chronicler, the poet, and the promoter of the Athenian democracy.

French text and direction Olivier Py
Artistic collaboration and costumes Pierre-André Weitz

With Philippe Girard, Frédéric Le Sacripan, Mireille Herbstmeyer

Production Festival d'Avignon
With the support of Spedidam
Artistic residence at la FabricA of Festival d'Avignon

La Trilogie de la guerre and Aeschylus, War Plays are published by éditions Actes Sud-Papiers.