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A woman stands raised above a group of people extending their hands towards her.
A woman dressed in white, with a black strip painted across her eyes, looks angrily at someone with their back to the camera.
A person with long hair in a grey top stares into the distance. She looks scared, and touches her chin with bloody hands.

BA (Hons) Acting Festival

Graduating students from Norwich University of the Arts’ BA Acting course perform final degree show at Norwich Theatre Stage Two.

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Students from across this year’s graduating BA Acting class presented a range of multi-disciplinary responses to Aeschylus’ Oresteia. This Restless House rewrites the ancient drama from a contemporary perspective, placing women at the centre of the story. The Furies is a devised interpretation of The Kindly Ones, the third play in the Oresteia trilogy. Students also premiered three short films: Funeral, Erika and Trench. The Festival took place at Norwich Theatre Stage Two.

This Restless House

Aeschylus’ Oresteia opens with Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter to the gods; an act which sets in motion a bloody cycle of revenge and counter-revenge. Electra, who as a young child witnesses her father’s murder, is compelled to take justice into her own hands.

A person with long hair in a grey top stares into the distance. She looks scared, and touches her chin with bloody hands.

A woman stands over a kneeling man, gripping his hair and holding his throat from behind. He screams in horror.

A man wearing a grey coat with red trim stares intently at a person with long hair.

Cast

Directed by Matti Houghton
Written by Zinnie Harris

The Furies

A collaborative re-imagining of Aeschylus’ third play of the Oresteia trilogy, The Kindly Ones. The Furies scrutinises traditional gender power dynamics and generational trauma.

A man dressed all in black stands over a person lying spread eagled on the floor, he may be dead. A group of people crowd in the background.

Acting Furies

Two people stand face to face. One stares intently and menacingly into the other's eyes.

Devised and performed by:

Director: Adina Levay
Dramaturg: Richard Bracewell

Photography: Andi Sapey

Prelude: Short Films

Erika – dir. Sophie Stagg

Written and directed by actor/director Sophie Stagg, Erika tells the true story of Sophie’s grandmother, Erika Algermissen. Struggling to survive in the Nazi regime, Erika finds herself in a dangerous situation when she befriends a Russian prisoner of war.

Trench – dir. Alexander Glenn

Directed by actor/composer Alexander Glenn, Trench tells the story of Oresteia’s Electra. Pulled out of time and judged by a strange figure, Electra must defend her life and privileges whilst being confronted by the horrors of her past.

Funeral – dir. James Eager

An interpretation of rebellion and longing for freedom from actor/musician James Eager. Funeral is a retelling of the story of Electra and Orestes, exploring how they coped with their isolation. The film is built around Eager’s original song ‘Funeral’, which focuses on bereavement and how he has coped with it.

Explore BA (Hons) Acting

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