Students Tackle Sophocles
Face to face with Greek tragedy, rehearsing for Electra.
Release date: 28/03/2012
Dundee College HNC acting and performance students are staging a story of love, betrayal, revenge and murder with their production of Sophocles’ Electra, at The Space at the Kingsway Campus.
The play may be 2500 years old but the themes are as captivating today as they were in ancient times.
A total of 15 students are involved in the production which is directed by lecturer Jane Hensey.
The production offers a fusion of the traditional and contemporary.
Traditional elements include the use of a Greek chorus and staging in a three-sided auditorium which reflects the arenas of ancient Athens while the use of music and a modern twist to the costumes brings an innovative freshness to the play.
The eponymous heroine is determined to seek revenge on her mother who, along with her lover, has murdered Electra’s father, Agamemnon, on his triumphant return from the Trojan War.
Sophocles version of Electra is considered to be exceptional in Greek drama in that, rather than concentrating on the rich language, it examines the character of the heroine, questioning what kind of woman can harbour such a blood lust for her own mother.
In the 20th century, psychoanalyst Carl Jung described women with a mother hatred psychological pattern as having an Electra complex.
“We have double cast the piece with students switching roles from one production to the next, offering two discrete interpretations of the play,” said Jane.
“Audiences should see two quite different productions should they decide to attend two performances and, at just over an hour, the play is relatively short.”
Electra runs from Thursday and Friday, March 29 and 30; curtain up, 7.30pm: tickets are free on the door on the night (subject to availability: seating is limited to 90 per performance because of unusual configuration), bar open from 7pm. There is also an extra matinee performance on Friday at 1.30pm.