Oresteia

In Bradley’s Oresteia, the convergence of multimedia and theatre and the attempt to make the drama relevant for a contemporary audience create many effects that contribute to an anti-illusive performance. Instead of creating an illusion and drawing the audience into the performance completely, anti-illusive techniques continually remind the audience that they are viewing a theatrical performance, not reality. In this way, Bradley’s production has some roots in Bertold Brecht’s concept of the "epic theatre." Brown and Ferolo state that they used many techniques to contribute to what Brecht called the alienation effect. "You keep the audience on the edge of their seat, not knowing what is going to happen next." For example, Brecht would use minimal props or interrupt the action with song or poetry. According to Brown and Ferolo, such techniques can encourage the audience to contemplate the action of the play within a social context and to approach the performance intellectually as well as emotionally. Justice is the central theme and question of The Oresteia—and this production challenges the audience to face that question head on, to determine what justice means not only for the characters in the play, but in their own lives. more information