“A god tortured by gods” for having loved men and condemned by Zeus for having given them fire and the arts, Prometheus is a symbol of disobedience, of contestation of the status quo; he is the shield that protects the weak from the word of the powerful. Often quoted and reinterpreted in literature since the time of Aeschylus, this divine play pits the Titan against the godly lieutenants Hephaestus, Apollo, Io, or Hermes. Because it is so fundamentally political, it offers, according to Olivier Py, a “lesson in insurrection.”
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.
An itinerant show.
Distribution
French text and direction Olivier Py
Costumes and props Pierre-André Weitz
With Philippe Girard, Frédéric Le Sacripan, Mireille Herbstmeyer
Production
Production Festival d'Avignon
With the support of Spedidam
Hosted studio and residences at la FabricA of Festival d'Avignon
La Trilogie de la guerre et Prométhée enchaîné are published by éditions Actes Sud.