Oresteia NYC Reviews and Tickets

88%

(139 Ratings)

Positive

94%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Absorbing, Great acting, Ambitious, Great staging, Masterful

About the Show

Robert Icke condensed and modernized the Greek trilogy into a single performance.

Lia Williams ('The Crown,' 'His Dark Materials') returns to the role for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress, Klytemnestra, in this new, contemporary version of the epic revenge tragedy. Plays in repertory with 'Hamlet.'

Aeschylus’ final play explores the sins of a family over several decades and explores whether justice can ever really be done.

This is the North American premiere for Icke's reimagined Olivier-winning 'Oresteia' that premiered at the Almeida Theatre in London. By putting 'Oresteia' in rep with 'Hamlet,' it allows audiences to see the connections in the classic plays written over 2,000 years apart.

Show-Score Member Reviews (139)

100

Profound, Masterful, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if You are a lover of modern takes on Greek tragedies. This is an incredible production with superb actors. A true must see; don’t miss it.

Don't see it if Your attention span is short these days. This play is 3 hours and 45 minutes. It’s a commitment.

Masterful, Great acting, Dizzying, Absorbing

See it if Brilliant, not perfect but brilliant acting and execution.

Don't see it if It's a bit long. Held my interest.

Outstanding performances, Relevant, Riveting, Thought-provoking, Must see

See it if Ready for an electrifying, totally modern take on a most ancient yet timeless script. Anastasia Hill and Angus Wright are exemplary.

Don't see it if You haven't the patience or physical ability to sit through the play's 3 hours; including intermissions and pauses, it can be tough.

Great staging, Absorbing, Relevant, Intense, Great acting

See it if Enjoy an intense struggle in a challenged family who represents all of us in our troubled world. The writing is amazing and staging too.

Don't see it if It is long 3 and a half hours although it keeps you engaged from start to finish. Tragic stories might be too much for some.

Intelligent, Great writing, Great acting, Great staging, Absorbing

See it if A masterful production of this Greek tragedy comes alive for the New York community. 4 hours went by quickly. Bravo to the entire cast.

Don't see it if If you prefer a musical then skip this one.

Excellent adaptation and direction, Masterful, Epic, Exquisite, Absorbing

See it if you enjoy a well done modern take on this Greek trilogy.

Don't see it if you are looking for happy, upbeat or basic.

Extraordinary production; magisterial reimagining of the oresteia for modern times; riveting 3 1/2 hours

See it if humanizes characters/family dynamics; new script brilliantly explores new issues/feminism, what is real/true; A Hille superb Klytemnestra

Don't see it if misses elemental horror of the original story, purists may find changes inconsistent w "Greek tragedy" Read more

Profound, Gruesome, Sensational

See it if you like classic theater, spectacle, and theory.

Don't see it if you are extremely sensitive to the themes. Read more

Critic Reviews (15)

"Robert Icke’s fraught and gripping 'Oresteia,' an emotionally harrowing retelling of Aeschylus’ trilogy at the Park Avenue Armory, doesn’t get bogged down in such background details of ancient mythology."
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" 'Oresteia' has stripped out most of the references to the gods and their fickle ways. ... Most of the thematic strands that Icke added into this production are so underexplored that they end up muddying the play and undercutting its power and any catharsis."
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"If anyone came to the show hoping to learn about ancient Greece, they surely left unsatisfied. At the same time, the reimagining is too generic to have much to say about our current moment. The only politics I thought about were the politics of a British director changing gods to God and presenting it as a human universal."
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"While people worship at any number of altars, they remain prey to the same dark impulses, for power, for dominance, for vengeance, for blood. This may be seen as either a source of grim solace—thus was it ever. Or merely sorrow—thus will it ever be."
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"I believe Icke is engaged in an honest struggle with theatrical heritage but as a director, his method is to throw everything against the wall—deconstructed text, overwhelming design, metatheatrical devices—to see what sticks. There’s a synthetic impersonality to the whole affair."
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"It's a satisfying cap to a remarkably intelligent new take on the 'Oresteia,' one that will have audiences marveling afresh at the social, political, and historical insights that Aeschylus still has to impart to a new generation."
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It has been a very, very long time -- perhaps never -- since I have seen a production so intimately acquainted with the terrors of the earth as Robert Icke's Oresteia. When first announced, the pairing of Hamlet and Oresteia for Park Avenue Armory's summer season seemed oddly arbitrary. But Icke, who directed both and adapted Aeschylus' text, manages in each case to merge classic tragedy with contemporary political reality to shattering effects. Theatre doesn't come more monumental, or more savage, than this.
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"Director-adapter Icke has done what it’s highly likely many Greek playwrights did during the fifth-century BCE: create their own versions of popular myths for plays long lost and forgotten."
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Trailer

Creative team