Get ready to take a trip to the pre-dramatic world, because to revisit the myth of Iphigènia, as the director Alícia Gorina says, “is to go to a work that supposes the theatrical origins, the essence of the theatrical act”.
For this purpose, with the translation and adaptation by Albert Arribas, director and playwright have immersed themselves in the two plays that Eurípides wrote about Iphigenia in the 5th century BC. Born on the island of Salamis, Euripides is one of the three great ancient Greek tragic poets, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, and about the myth of the daughter of Agamemnon (Pere Arquillué) and Clytemnestra (Emma Vilarasau) he wrote Iphigenia in Àulis and Iphigenia in Tauris.
Ifigènia premieres on April 24 at the Teatre Lliure de Montjuïc, where it will be performed until June 2, with a cast that is completed by Marta Ossó, Albert Pérez and Pau Vinyals, and a chorus of five female voices: Cèlia Castellano , Daniela Fumadó, Júlia Genís, Laura Roig and Neus Soler, “who represent all the girls who have been victims of patriarchal structures”, declares the director.
Before going into details, Gorina makes five cents of the argument: “Agamemnon goes to Troy, but the ships are stopped in a bay because the wind stops blowing for days and days. This fact is interpreted as a punishment that will not be forgiven by the gods until the king sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia. But she saves herself and goes to Taurida, abroad, in what is now Crimea, where she has permission to kill all the Greeks who come there.”
“I wanted to explore all aspects of the tragedy, with all the elements, and there is also sung music – continues the director-. We have a journey that goes from Greek tragedy to a more contemporary place, which is why the second part is more dreamlike and we enter a more mental space, marked by chaos and violence. Making this tragedy has to do with the character of Iphigènia, this sacrificed virgin, but trying to avoid the cliché”.
Gorina points out three questions: “Why does Iphigènia undertake the sacrifice? It is a decision that Aristotle criticized a lot and, in fact, it is a black hole that the work has. Since he can’t drive all the Greeks to shit, he takes the sacrifice with dignity. And because she is saved, Iphigènia grows up and has to live with and manage everything that has happened to her. Like his brother Orestes, he has inherited the violence of his parents, a violence that passes from generation to generation.” For the occasion, the Fabià Puigserver room will present a new configuration, “like a temple, with a large central corridor through which Iphigènia makes the path of sacrifice to the altar”.
Arribas explains his adaptation: “Euripides was misunderstood in his time. Theater is problematic or it is not, and in this work there is an irresolvable part. It is fascinating because it is problematic and reflects the difficulty of facing life. In the translation I tried to make the characters consistent from a linguistic point of view”.
As for the music, it was composed by Arnau Vallvé, Manel’s drummer: “More than a year ago, Alicia already had the work very clear, she had the tragedy inside. This character who is the heart helps us to accompany all this with choral singing”.
Vilarasau describes the essay work: “Alícia has very clear concepts, but not easy ones. The first week and a half I didn’t understand how to do it, but once we found the common language it’s been really nice. The male characters are almost comically pathetic, especially Agamemnon and Achilles.” And Arquillué adds: “It’s the second time I’ve worked with Alicia, who has a way of directing that you can’t get up the next day because you’re exhausted.” About the interpretation of Ifigènia, Ossó confesses: “It’s very tiring and painful to do it every day, but yesterday I started to have a good time”.
