Electra

Electra or Elektra (Ancient Greek: Ἠλέκτρα, meaning "amber")

In Greek mythology, Elektra (/ɪˈlɛktrə/; Greek: Ἠλέκτρα, Ēlektra "amber") was the daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus princess of Argos.[1] She and her brother Orestes plotted revenge against their mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father.

Electra is one of the most popular mythological characters in tragedies.[1] She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, Electra by Sophocles and Electra by Euripides.

She is also the central figure in plays by Aeschylus, Alfieri, Voltaire, Hofmannsthal, Eugene O'Neill and many others

The original texts

Though she first appears in a play by Aeschylus, the first known version of a play bearing her name was the famous Greek tragedy by Sophocles.

Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan war, it is based around the character of Electra, and the vengeance that she and her brother Orestes take on their mother Clytemnestra and step father Aegisthus for the murder of their father, Agamemnon.

Electra (circa 413 B.C.), by Euripides (485-406 B.C.). The play deals with the same theme as that of the similarly named tragedy by Sophocles.

Electra (1900), by Spanish playwright Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920). The play discusses the problem of the girl who is being impelled towards a convent life for which she is entirely unsuited.

Translations and adaptations

A burlesque version of Electra, called Electra, in a new Electric Light, was written by Francis Talfourd (1828-1862)[1] and performed for the first time on 25 April 1859 at the Haymarket Theatre, London.

Translated into Afrikaans as Elektra by J.P.J. van Rensburg (published by Human & Rousseau, 1969).

Electra by Sophocles, adapted by John Barton and Kenneth Cavander. Published in The Greeks : ten Greek plays given as a trilogy, Heinemann, 1981.

Performance history in South Africa

1859: Talfourd's burlesque version performed (as Electra) in the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town, by the Cape Town Dramatic Club in October, with The Little Treasure (Harris).

1965: The Afrikaans translation Elektra was staged by PACT, directed by the Greek director Costis Michaelides (assisted by Leonora Nel), starring Anna Neethling-Pohl as Klutaimnestra at the Aula, Pretoria and the Civic Theatre, Johannesburg. Other members of the cast were Francois Swart (Orestes), Carel Trichardt (Paidagogos), Marius Weyers (Pulades), Tine Balder (Elektra), Petru Wessels (Chrusothemis), Louis van Niekerk (Aigisthos). Decor and costumes designed by Raimond Schoop.

1966(?): The Afrikaans translation Elektra was staged by the University of Pretoria **

1968: The Afrikaans translation Elektra was presented by Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch in the H.B. Thom Theatre and the Bellville Civic Theatre in June, directed by Tine Balder, starring Frikkie Engels, Fred Nel, Herman Pretorius, Esther Brandt, Annelize van der Ryst, Deon Joubert and others.

1997: Electra by Sophocles, as adapted by Barton and Cavander, directed by Gaerin Hauptfleisch for the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department, in September in the Little Libertas Theatre. The cast: Lorraine Burger, Tania Strauss, Nina Swart, James Lapping, Carlien Mostert, Susan Rabe, Keith Bain.

Sources

Wikipedia [2]

World Drama by Allardyce Nicoll, 1949.

Laura Monros-Gaspar (ed). 2015. Victorian Classical Burlesques: A Critical Anthology. Bloomsbury Publishing[3]

PACT theatre programme, 1965.

UTS theatre programme, 1968.

Petru & Carel Trichardt theatre programme collection.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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