The Oresteia
The Bridge Theatre, London
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

THE ORESTEIA by Aeschylus — strictly not one play, although it is often performed as such, but a trilogy of connected tragedies, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides — is one of the foundational texts of Western theatre. It might be 2,500 years old, but its characters, and its themes, have echoed loudly and proudly down the centuries in our Western world.

It tells of the murder of Agamemnon, hero of the Trojan Wars, and his mistress Cassandra by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, and the subsequent murder of Clytemnestra (as well as Aegisthus) by her son Orestes. And it won first prize at the Dionysia festival in Athens in 458BC.

A new production of The Oresteia at The Bridge Theatre, on the south bank of the River Thames in the shadow of Tower Bridge, opened last night. And while it owes very little to Aeschylus, and it is exceptionally long (three hours 35 minutes) and it is also exceptionally good.

Although Nick Hytner’s London Theatre Company is billing The Oresteia as “after Aeschylus and others” even that is a tad disingenuous as it is, in fact, a thoroughgoing reimagining of the original text, and none the worse for that. “Inspired by” might be a more accurate description.

The Australian writer and director Simon Stone has drawn on the original material to create a thoroughly modern slice of theatrical magic, with the help of a stunning glass house, set on a revolve, by Lizzie Clachan.

It stars David Morrissey. You might remember him as a young copper not unsympathetic to the striking miners in James Graham’s Sherwood and as an impressive Mark Antony in Hytner’s production of Julius Caesar, the title role played as Donald Trump in the orange man’s first incarnation as US president, here at The Bridge five years ago.

Alongside Morrissey are Mary-Louise Parker (Amy Gardner in The West Wing, Dee in Grand Canyon and Nancy in Weeds), Tom Glynn-Carney (Mark Rylance’s son on one of the small boats crossing the Channel in Dunkirk and, ahem, Mike Sadler in many a persons’ guilty pleasure, SAS: Rogue Heroes), and Rosie Sheehy, a stunning young actor, who announced her talent as Puck in the RSC’s energetic production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream two years ago.

Together, and brilliantly, and with a stylistic nod over their collective shoulder at both Jean-Paul Marat and Jacobean revenge tragedy, they remake the universal themes of The Oresteia for a contemporary audience.

Aeschylus was born at Eleusis, near Athens, in 525BC, fought in the Persian wars (his epitaph, said to have been written by himself, refers to his fighting at the decisive Battle of Marathon), and wrote more than 70 plays, of which seven survive, including Prometheus Bound, Seven Against Thebes, and The Oresteia, before dying at Gela in Sicily in 456BC. He lives on, though, through such productions as this.

Runs until September 19. Box office: 0333 320 0051, bridgetheatre.co.uk https://www.bridgetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-oresteia/