***Update — The Theatre Department is pleased to announce that the final performance of “Iphigenia,” which was supposed to have occurred Monday at 2:00, has been rescheduled for tomorrow evening for a special showing at 7:30. ***
The Newman University Theatre Department will present an adaptation of the Greek drama “Iphigenia” for its spring show. The play will be presented at 8 p.m. Feb. 27, 28, and March 1, and at 2 p.m. on March 2. “Iphigenia” will be presented in Performance Hall, inside the De Mattias Fine Arts Center on the Newman campus.
Tickets will be available at the door for $12 general public, $10 Newman faculty/staff, seniors, and members of the military, and $5 non-Newman students. Newman students admitted free with student I.D.
“I am very excited about the project,” said Newman Director of Theatre Mark Mannette. “It is my first time directing a Greek play. I think it will be a great experience for the students in the cast as well as everyone in the audience.”
“Iphigenia” is a Greek drama that is divided into two parts. Euripides wrote the plays “Iphigenia in Taurus” around 414 B.C. and “Iphigenia in Aulis” around 406 B.C. Chronologically, the Aulis play comes first and occurs prior to the Trojan War. It is the one that will be presented first by Newman cast members.
“The script we will use for that is my own adaptation/translation,” Mannette said.
The Taurus play takes place after the Trojan War, but is a continuation of Iphigenia’s story. This second part will be presented after intermission. The entirety of the play will be presented as “Iphigenia.”
In the “Iphigenia in Aulis” part of the play, Paris has abducted Helen, and taken her back to Troy. As a result, the Greeks, led by Agamemnon, have mustered all their forces. The 1,000 ships cannot sail from the harbor at Aulis, however, until Agamemnon sacrifices his eldest child, Iphigenia, to the goddess Artemis.
In between the two plays the entire Trojan War has been fought and won, Agamemnon has returned home only to be murdered by his wife, who in turn is murdered by their son Orestes. In the second part of the show, Orestes is tormented by the Furies as punishment for matricide. According to the god Apollo, the only way to free himself from them is to travel to Taurus and steal a statue of Artemis.
Cast members of “Iphigenia” are listed below in order of appearance, with their respective hometowns:
Iphigenia: Laura Morrissey (Birmingham, England)
Agamemnon: Francisco Fields (Newton, Kan.)
Menelaus: Ian Ewing, (Fairway, Kan.)
Clytemnestra: C.L. Smet (Wichita, Kan.)
Choraga: Kylee Gaston (Wichita, Kan.)
Nurse: Alison Byrne (Derby, Kan.)
Attendant: Wesley Williams (Tonganoxie, Kan.)
Achilles: Justin Ralph (Wichita, Kan.)
Talthybius: Mark Carlson (Olathe, Kan.)
Soldiers: Phil Paugh (Goddard, Kan.), Larry Shepard (Wichita, Kan.), Andrew Hild (Wichita, Kan.)
Aulis Chorus (Muses): Rose Bittle (Wichita, Kan.), Bryia Carter-King (St. Louis, Mo.), Emma Mattingly (David City, Neb.), Maggie O’Neal (Blue Springs, Mo.), Rubi Chamagua (Wichita, Kan.), Katy Messenger (Kingman, Kan.), Alyssa Keimig (Wichita, Kan.), Shakira Patni (Sugar Land, Texas), Nimrah Kahn (Wichita, Kan.)
Orestes: Andrew Hild
Pylades: Wesley Williams
King Thaos: Ian Ewing
Athena: Maggie O’Neal
Herdsmen/ Soldiers: Phil Paugh, Mark Carlson, Justin Ralph, Francisco Fields, Larry Shepard
Temple Maiden 1: Emma Mattingly
Temple Maiden 2: Alison Byrne
Temple Maiden 3: Alyssa Keimig
Temple Maiden 4: Kylee Gaston
Temple Maiden 5: Bryia Carter-King
Temple Maiden 6: Katy Messenger
Temple Maiden 7: Nimrah Kahn
Furies: Rose Bittle, Shakira Patni, Rubi Chamagua, C.L. Smet
