Director Annabelle Comyn introduces her production of Girl On An Altar, playwright Marina Carr's new re-telling of the infamous Greek myth Agamemnon, which opens at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin this July.
"We want to think of families as safe havens in a heartless world and of our own country populated by enlightened, civilised people. We prefer to believe that cruelty only exists in faraway places…"
Bessel Van Der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
Last year when researching the original production of Girl On An Altar at The Kiln Theatre, London, designer Tom Piper and I drew inspiration from past and present conflicts around the world; Afghanistan, Srebrenica, and of course, the war in Ukraine. Russia's invasion was a clear signal that such events are not far from our shores.
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Listen: Annabelle Comyn and Marina Carr talk to RTÉ Arena
Marina Carr’s Girl on an Altar is a play about us, here, now. A play set in a world of conflict, where teenage boys are used as cannon fodder in an autocrat’s lust for power, where women and girls are trafficked, and men of god(s) exploit the innocent.
Today girls, women, and young men are not literally sacrificed on the altars of gods, but we are not so far removed.
At the heart of this play is a marriage; a man, a woman, and their children, and it is here where the themes of legacy, sacrifice, love and forgiveness are explored. Agamemnon has offered their first child, Iphigenia, to appease the gods and to win over the army’s loyalty so that he may lead his troops in a war against Troy.
This atrocity occurred ten years ago. Events end but the fallout, like trauma, creates ripples that destroy the lives of family, a community and future generations.
The play focuses on the moment of his return from Troy and the days, weeks, months after. Where the first play of the Orestia ends with Clytemnestra killing Agamemnon the day he arrives home, in Marina Carr’s Girl On An Altar, Clytemnestra still loves and desires Agamemnon and the act of murdering him seems "Impossible". With their daughter’s ghost haunting their lives, can they move on together as husband and wife? What about their children, "the ones that are left"?
Clytemnestra must contend with her body’s desire for her husband and her heart’s rancour and in their every encounter, confront whether forgiveness is possible.
Girl on an Altar runs from 12th July – 19th August at the Abbey Theatre - find out more here.
