Iphigenia

Ever since Antiquity, the curse of the Atreidae has haunted western theatre. Racine and Euripides alike took an interest in Agamemnon, the father who, in order to summon the winds needed to reach Troy and win the war, sends his own daughter to death. But then came Tiago Rodrigues, who likes nothing more than to twist canonical masterpieces to reveal their unknown dimensions. In this interpretation of the myth, the Lisbon playwright wonders what destiny would have awaited the last of the Atreidae if men—who preside over her fate—weren’t subject to the gods’ authority. An approach of the pleasures of free will which immediately spoke to Anne Théron, whose work often explores the inner screams of women she stages in exceptional shows, tapestries of aural, visual, plastic, and dramatic sensations. “Clytemnestra is an extraordinary character. She asks the men to give up. (…) She’s an angry woman, determined to see Agamemnon answer for his crime before history. In that way, she also constructs another memory of the tragedy, for us watching today. It’s dizzying!”

Whether he’s combining true story and fiction, revisiting the classics or adapting novels, Tiago Rodrigues is deeply invested in the idea of writing with and for the actors. In 2003, he founded his own company for which he writes plays, then was named director of the Lisbon National Theatre in 2014. In September 2023 he will become the next director of the Festival d’Avignon. Tiago Rodrigues is the author of many plays, including By Heart and Bovary, but also Antony and Cleopatra and Sopro, which the spectators of the Festival d’Avignon discovered in 2015 and 2017.

With Carolina Amaral, Fanny Avram, João Cravo Cardoso, Alex Descas, Vincent Dissez, Mireille Herbstmeyer, Julie Moreau, Philippe Morier-Genoud, Richard Sammut

Text Tiago Rodrigues
Translation Thomas Resendes
Direction Anne Théron
Choreographic collaboration Thierry Thieû Niang
Set design and costumes Barbara Kraft
Dramaturgy and assistant direction Thomas Resendes
Lights Benoît Théron
Video Nicolas Comte screening Jules Dupont, Achille Genet, Baptiste Perais, Julien Toinard, Louis Valencia
Sound Sophie Berger

Audio-description Rémi de Fournas
Stage managers Mickaël Varaniac-Quard, Marion Koechlin
Sound management Quentin Bonnard
Video and sound management Jean-Marc Lanoë
Diffusion Séverine André Liebaut

Production Théâtre National de Strasbourg, Compagnie Les productions Merlin
Co-production Festival d’Avignon, Teatro Nacional São João (Porto), L’Empreinte scène nationale Brive-Tulle, Le Grand R – scène nationale de La Roche-sur-Yon, Scène nationale du Sud-Aquitain (Bayonne), OARA – Office artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine
With the support of the Ministry of Culture, Assistance to the conventionnement and exceptional production fund of the Institut Français as part of the France-Portugal 2022 Season, and for the 76th edition of the Festival d'Avignon : Spedidam
With the help of the Town Hall of Fort-Mahon-Plage and Chantal Nicolaï for the shooting of the film, the Centre dramatique national Les Tréteaux de France for the hosting of a residency, and Empty Mass for the provision of treated guitars
Set construction Ateliers du TNP de Villeurbanne
Costume making Ateliers du Théâtre National de Strasbourg
In partnership with France Télévisions

The company Les productions Merlin is supported by the State, the Drac Nouvelle-Aquitaine - Ministère de la Culture