ABSTRACT
This chapter speaks of the hugely celebrated production of Aeschylus’s Oresteia, which was preceded by Euripides’s Iphigenia in Aulis (1990–1993). As with The Shakespeare Cycle, Mnouchkine took on most of the translation work herself, with help from renowned classicists. In harmony with the same classicists, Cixous translated Iphigenia. Significantly different from other chapters, Chapter 5 reproduces a long interview between the author, Béatrice Picon-Vallin, Mnouchkine, the designers, and the principle actors of The House of Atreus Cycle. This is exceptionally useful in documenting how different players fit into the creative process, in suggesting how much each one is empowered to inflect the work, but also in showing how much pressure this puts on every member of the Soleil community. The discussion of the choral work, based in kathakali and Armenian dancing, is of particular interest, as is the discussion of the design concepts – the whole production taking on the feel of haunted monumentality, with the theatre becoming a kind of architectural dig thanks to the life-size statues created by mask-maker Erhard Stiefel. Many production photos illumine the conversation; and the thoughtful responses of the actors to Picon-Vallin’s questions shed light on the techniques used to develop a play.
