Shakespeare’s Globe announces full casting for Rory Mullarkey’s new
adaptation of The Oresteia
Thursday 16 July 2015
Shakespeare’s Globe is delighted to announce full casting for Rory Mullarkey’s new
adaptation of The Oresteia, directed by Adele Thomas.
First performed at the Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BC, Aeschylus’s trilogy dramatizes
the shift away from the private blood vendetta and towards a public polis founded on
principles of open trial and punishment. The plays will find a fitting home at the Globe, where
audiences gather under open skies and in a shared light with actors – as they would have
done centuries ago in the vast stone amphitheatres of Ancient Greece.
Rory said: “The Oresteia is a huge, epic trilogy about how we live together, so it's brilliant to
be doing it in a huge, epic theatre right in the heart of a European capital city. Its stunning
words present human beings in all their grim and beautiful and messy contradictions, so it's
hugely exciting to be staging it somewhere so public, where language feels so alive, and
where the audience's relationship with the performers feels so immediate and intimate.”
Katy Stephens will take the role of Clytemnestra. Katy has most recently performed in the
UK tour of The King’s Speech and appeared at the Globe last year in Julius Caesar and
Howard Brenton’s Doctor Scroggy’s War. As an Associate Artist with the RSC, she has
appeared in several productions in Stratford, including As You Like It, King Lear, Antony and
Cleopatra and The Histories, for which she won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best
Actress.
George Irving will play Agamemnon and Apollo. George returns to the Globe, having taken
the title role in Dominic Dromgoole’s critically acclaimed Julius Caesar last year. His other
stage credits include Across Oka (Royal Court, West End) and Howard Barker’s The Dying
of Today (Arcola) and his screen credits include the BAFTA-winning short filmAntonio’s
Breakfast and The Tudors (BBC). Serbian actress Branka Katić plays Athena. Branka is
known for her roles in the films Breaking and Entering and Public Enemies, and in the HBO
television series Big Love and Entourage. She has also worked extensively in theatre in
Serbia, including in Closer, Radovan III and My Darling.
Joel MacCormack plays Orestes. Joel’s recent stage credits include Measure for Measureat
the Globe, Each Their Own Wilderness at the Orange Tree, and Oppenheimer and The
Shoemaker’s Holiday at the RSC. His screen credits include the recent BBC adaptation
ofWolf Hall. Rosie Hilal plays his sister Electra – her most recent credits include Tom
Stoppard’s The Hard Problem (National Theatre) and her screen debut in the film adaptation
of London Road. Naana Agyei-Ampadu plays Cassandra. Naana’s recent stage credits
include Made in Dagenham with Gemma Arterton (West End), The Amen Corner (National
Theatre) and Feast (Young Vic).
ENDS
EDITORS’ NOTES
Shakespeare’s Globe
Booking:
Phone
+44 (0) 20 7401 9919
In person
Mon-Sat 10am-6pm (8pm on performance days)
Sundays
10am-5pm (7pm on performance days)
Online
www.shakespearesglobe.com
Tickets
£5 - £43 (Globe Theatre) £10 - £60 (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse)
For more information please contact Emma Draper or Claudia Conway on +44 (0) 207
902 1491 / 1492 or email emma.d@shakespearesglobe.com
/ claudia.c@shakespearesglobe.com
Patrons who are members of the free access scheme are eligible for adjusted ticket prices.
The Oresteia
Adapted by Rory Mullarkey
From the original by Aeschylus
Directed by Adele Thomas
Designed by Hannah Clark
Saturday 29 August – Friday 16 October
Press night: Thursday 3 September
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