The Oresteia on 4oD.



Theatre Further to my review of Channel 4's The Celebration, glancing through 4oD the other night, I was surprised and pleased to see that amongst their offerings, slightly randomly, is an in theatre recording of Peter Hall's production of The Oresteia from The National (with music by Harrison Birtwistle).

Click here to see all three parts although it'll also be on the various apps.

The Screenplays project has a thoroughly researched entry about this production and this television version.
"The television version of the National’s The Oresteia was prefaced, earlier in the week, by two accompanying programmes. On Tuesday 4 October, a special edition of the Today’s History series, transmitted under the title The Weight of the Past, connected the themes of the Oresteia with ‘modern instances of revenge as a route to justice’, asking ‘how a society ever emerges from feuds to the rule of law’ (Channel Four Television: Press Information, 1-7 October 1983). This programme was illustrated by extracts not only from the Channel 4 production but also from the 1977 Sicilian film Padre, Padrone (directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani), which had recently been shown on Channel 4, and the recently released Handgun (written and directed by Tony Garnett, 1982)."

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