33ʳᵈ Macao Arts Festival

Electra

Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre

13, 14/5
20:00
Grand Auditorium, Macao Cultural Centre


Duration: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one interval
Performed in Mandarin, with surtitles in Chinese and English

 

Please switch off all sound-making and light-emitting devices. Unauthorised photography or recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Thank you for your co-operation.

 

Presented by: Zhang Huiqing
Supervisor: Tian Shui
Artistic Director: Rongjun Yu
Co-supervisor: He Nian
Producers: Huang Yiping and Tang Shi

Playwright: Sophocles
Chinese Script Translation: Luo Tong
Director: Michail Marmarinos
Revival Director: Huang Fangling
Composer: Dimitris Kamarotos
Dramaturg and Rehearsal Translator: Zhao Han
Set and Costume Design: Yorgos Sapountzis
Choreography: Anastasios Karachalios
Lighting Design: Wang Beijun
Prop Design: Liu Yiping
Sound Design: Qian Jie
Technical Design: Xu Jinjia
Multimedia Design: Xu Xin
Stage Managers: Xin Shuting and Xu Xin
Revival Vocal Coach: Shi Ling
Revival Assistant Director: Fang Ge
Revival Movement Director: Meng Xiaojun
Script Supervisor: Jiang Rufeng
Costume and Makeup: Niu Chunhuan, Sun Jiawen and Zhang Xing
Sound Operator: Wang Yixuan
Lighting Operators: Zhang Zhaosong and Zhang Acai
Set Operators:Zhou Hongjun, Wang Xiuwen, Zheng Gang and Cui Haigang
Production Assistant: Cai Yanqun

Characters and Cast

Electra (second daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra): Fan Yilin
Clytemnestra (mother of Electra): Li Chentao
Orestes (brother of Electra): Chen Shan
Chrysothemis (sister of Electra): Zhou Zidan
Aegisthus (lover of Clytemnestra): Zhang Qi
Paedagogus (attendant of Orestes): Zhou Tingchao
Pylades (friend of Orestes) : Wang Yicheng
Chorus: Li Chentao, Chen Shan, Zhou Zidan, Zhang Qi, Zhou Tingchao, Wang Yicheng, You Mei, Si Kun, Liu Yichen, Zhang Jing, Zhang Shan and Liu Qi
Live Sheng Performance: Dai Zifan
Live Aulos Performance: Cai Qicheng

Story Background

To set sail for Troy, Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, offers his eldest daughter as a sacrifice as instructed by the oracle, disregarding the objection from his wife Clytemnestra. He is then killed by Clytemnestra and her lover after his triumphant return from Troy. Fearing that her younger brother Orestes may suffer misfortune, Agamemnon’s second daughter, Electra, secretly sends him to a nearby city-state. Out of hatred against her mother, Electra serves as a slave in the palace and hopes for her brother to grow up and return. Orestes follows the oracle and returns to Mycenae years later, and this is where the story begins.

Programme

Electra is a classic by Sophocles, one of the three great ancient Greek tragedians, and it is also one of the only seven plays that have survived in their entirety among some 120 plays that he wrote.

There are divergent views on the origin of ancient Greek tragedy, and it is generally believed to have emerged from the choral performances in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine. The chorus had an important role in early ancient Greek tragedies. They could play a character, a group of audience members or a narrator, talking with the actor(s), commenting on the events or describing the story. The chorus originally comprised 50 members. With the increase in the number of actors from one to two, which allowed for dialogues between them, then to three by Sophocles, the chorus gradually became less important and was reduced to a group of 15.

“Hybris” (or “hubris”) is a crucial term in ancient Greek tragedy. It is a word in ancient Greek that means arrogance, referring to people who are so overconfident that they offend others, violate laws, breach social values, and especially, offend the gods. In Electra, “hybris” is exemplified in the conspired murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and her lover. Gods also play a part in each and every ancient Greek tragedy. In this play, Orestes takes revenge as instructed by the oracle of Apollo, the god of light and prophecy, and his revenge results in the involvement of Ares, the god of war, and Erinyes, the goddesses of vengeance.

To present a better interpretation of Electra, the production team has reproduced the ancient Greek double aulos based on the exhibits at the British Museum and arranged its live performance together with the sheng, a Chinese traditional wind instrument. Used in ancient Greek tragedy performances as early as the 5th century BC, its sound has disappeared for over 2,000 years. The sheng was discovered in archaeological finds at the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (c. 433 BC), close to the period of the double aulos, and is still widely played in concerts nowadays.

 

An Ancient Greek Tragedy Recreated with Greek and Chinese Touches: Electra

Electra, co-produced by the creative teams of Greek director Michail Marmarinos and the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, adopts a new approach to recreate the classic tragedy by Greek playwright Sophocles some 2,500 years ago. Taken from Greek mythology, Electra relates the story of the eponymous heroine who grooms her younger brother Orestes to avenge the death of their father, Agamemnon, murdered by his wife and her lover, Aegisthus, but sees Orestes killed upon reaching adulthood and has to take revenge herself against all odds. This unique story of matricide was so popular that besides Sophocles, it was also portrayed by two other great ancient Greek tragedians, Aeschylus and Euripides, which suggests it was very well known at that time.

By Yang Xiaoluan
Theatre promoter, critic, veteran performer, and founder of self-media Theatre Go Round

This article is excerpted and translated from Chinese

Biographical Notes

Luo Tong, Chinese Script Translation

Luo is a director, specialist in Greek theatre and resident expert at Shanghai Theatre Academy. A graduate from the Department of Directing at The Central Academy of Drama, she furthered her studies in Greece in the 90s and graduated in Theatrology from the School of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has been engaged in the study of ancient Greek theatre and Sino-Greek cultural exchange. Her directing credits include Oedipus Rex, The Birds, and among her translated works are The Frogs and Agamemnon.

Michail Marmarinos, Director

Artistic director of Theseum Ensemble, Marmarinos’ productions have been staged in Greece and presented at festivals in France, Germany, Italy, Georgia, Poland, Japan, Korea and China. His notable works include National Anthem, Akropolis Reconstruction, Agamemnon and Noh drama Nekyia. In 2016, he was nominated a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of France.

Huang Fangling, Revival Director

Huang is a National Second Class Actor and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. She obtained her Master’s degrees at the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Tisch School of the Arts in New York. She won Second Class Performance Prize of the Professional Group at the 4th CCTV Drama Contest in China and Best Actor at the 2nd People’s Liberation Army Art Performance. She has directed Old Times and Henry V, and performed in Letter to a Child Never Born, Hudec and Noises Off.

Dimitris Kamarotos, Composer

Kamarotos is mainly engaged in music composition, sound design and sound dramaturgy, and specialises in the common reactions and chanting of the chorus in Greek tragedies. He has worked with arts festivals and theatres such as the Epidaurus Festival, Comédie-Française and National Theatre of Greece, and created music for more than 120 productions.

Zhao Han, Dramaturg and Rehearsal Translator

A dramaturg and translator, Zhao assists directors on the literary and historic sides of theatre-making. His recent works include Mrożek Shorts (directed by Tan Shaoyuan and Zhang Nan, 2021), Macbeth (commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, 2018) and A Number (directed by Zhang Nan, 2018).

Yorgos Sapountzis, Set and Costume Design

Sapountzis was born in Athens and lives in Berlin. He studied at the Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art of the Technological Educational Institute of Athens and College of Fine Arts of Berlin University of the Arts. His multimedia works engage with both public and private spaces. Taking public monuments, everyday images and objects that represent collective and personal memory as the starting point and through installations made from the materials and objects he collects every day, he reconstructs the scenography of a city.

Fan Yilin, Actor (as Electra)

Fan is an actor at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and a graduate of the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts of Fudan University. She was awarded New Actor in a Supporting Role at the 26th Shanghai Magnolia Stage Performance Awards, New Actor in a Leading Role at the 29th Shanghai Magnolia Theatre Performing Arts Awards, and Best Actress at the 22nd and 23rd Zuolin Dramatic Arts Awards. She has appeared in The Scholar and The Executioner, Under the Roofs of Shanghai and Abyss.

Li Chentao, Actor (as Clytemnestra) and Chorus

Graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Li is a National First Class Actor and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. She was awarded Excellent Performance by the Ministry of Culture of People’s Republic of China in 1997, won Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 29th Shanghai Magnolia Stage Performance Awards, the 22nd and 23rd Zuolin Dramatic Arts Awards, and the 8th International Theatre Academy Awards. Her works include Everlasting Regret, Uncle Vanya and Doubt: A Parable.

Chen Shan, Actor (as Orestes) and Chorus

Graduated from the Modern Creative Media College of Beijing Film Academy, Chen is an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and the recipient of Best New Actor and Best Actor at the 24th and 25th Zuolin Dramatic Arts Awards, respectively. His credits include The Wave, The Dream of the Red Chamber and Abyss.

Zhou Zidan, Actor (as Chrysothemis) and Chorus

A graduate of Xie Jin Film and Television Art College of Shanghai Normal University, Zhou is currently an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. She has appeared in The Play That Goes Wrong, The Unexpected Guest, And Then There Were None, The Wave and Death of a Salesman.

Zhang Qi, Actor (as Aegisthus) and Chorus

Zhang is a National First Class Actor and an actor at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. He has performed in the dramas I Don’t Want to Be Friends with You, Henry V and Uncle Vanya.

Zhou Tingchao, Actor (as Paedagogus) and Chorus

Graduated from Xie Jin Film and Television Art College of Shanghai Normal University, Zhou is a National Second Class Actor and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. Among his works are The Age of Awakening, In Hell or Earth, 4:48 Psychosis and Uncle Vanya.

Wang Yicheng, Actor (as Pylades) and Chorus

A graduate of the Xie Jin Film and Television Art College of Shanghai Normal University and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Wang has appeared in The Savage Land, Deep in the Heart, Abyss and I Don’t Want to Be Friends with You.

You Mei, Chorus

You is a graduate of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, a National First Class Actor and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. Her works include appearances in dramas like The Age of Awakening, Deep in the Heart and Death of a Salesman, musicals Mamma Mia! (Chinese version) and With Love, William Shakespeare.

Si Kun, Chorus

Si, graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, is a National Second Class Actor and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. Among his works are Everlasting Regret, 12 Angry Men, Henry V and I Don’t Want to Be Friends with You.

Liu Yichen, Chorus

A graduate of the Shanghai Theatre Academy and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Liu’s works include appearances in The Dream of the Red Chamber, Doubt: A Parable and The Scholar and The Executioner.

Zhang Jing, Chorus

Zhang graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy and joined the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre as an actor. Her credits include The Age of Awakening, No 19 Wu Kang Road and Chaplin.

Zhang Shan, Chorus

Zhang, a graduate of the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts of Fudan University and an actor at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, has appeared in The Dream of the Red Chamber, I Love Peach Blossom, The Play That Goes Wrong and And Then There Were None.

Liu Qi, Chorus

Graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Liu’s works include appearances in The Dream of the Red Chamber, Everlasting Regret, Into the Sky and No 19 Wu Kang Road.

Dai Zifan, Live Sheng Performance

Dai is the music director of China Beaufin National Orchestra and a member of the Sheng Professional Committee of China Nationalities Orchestra Society. He studied the sheng under Xu Chaoming and Wu Wei. Recently, he has composed and premiered several modern sheng pieces, and worked in electronic music projects and opera productions.

Cai Qicheng, Live Aulos Performance

Cai graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with a Master’s degree in Clarinet Performance and founded Shenzhen Poco Chamber. She was an award recipient of the Hong Kong International Youth Clarinet Competition in 2014 and the National Clarinet Quartet Competition organised by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2018. She has taken part in recitals, chamber and orchestral performances.

Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre

The Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre is an outstanding theatre company in Mainland China and the only national theatre in Shanghai dedicated to dramatic arts. Since its inception 28 years ago, it has created nearly 360 stage productions, and won awards including National Fine Stage Arts Project Award, Wenhua Prize, Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre, Cao Yu Script Award and the Golden Lion Award for Chinese Drama.

Disclaimer
The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government provides liaison and technical support to the project only. Any views/opinions expressed by the project team are those of the project only and do not reflect the views of the Cultural Affairs Bureau.