Oreste by Ifigenia
A response to George Friederich Handel’s opera, Oreste
Commission for the Singapore International Festival of the Arts 2019
Arts House, Chamber, May 25 8pm, May 26 5pm, 2019
Directed by Tan Shou Chen
Music Direction by Ng Tian Hui
Stage Management by Justina Khoo
Lighting Design by Alberta Wileo
Multimedia Design by Irfan Kasban
Ifigenia: Cherie Tse
Oreste: Chan Wei En
Dancer: Billy Keohavong
Oboe I: Hu Qiuzi
Oboe II: Leow Rui Qing
Violin I: Siew Yi Li & Jocelyn Ng
Violin II: Joelle He & Natalie Koh
Viola: Annette Lee
Cello: Melissa Ong
Double Bass: Edmund Song
Harpsichord——Gerald Lim
Synopsis:
Ifigenia gave herself to the sacrificial sword so the Greeks could launch their war against Troy. Saved by Artemis, she becomes the priestess for the city of Tauris. Now in charge, Ifigenia faces an impossible choices: follow the law and slay her unfortunate brother, Oreste, or summon everything she has to save her only kin.
This new work by theatre-maker Tan Shou Chen and music director Ng Tian Hui responds to George Frideric Handel’s opera Oreste. In Handel’s treatment, Ifigenia is portrayed as a supporting character in Oreste’s journey. Against the backdrop of Euripedes’ Ifigenia Among the Taurines, this staging turns the spotlight to this enigmatic woman, using Handel’s music to tell the story of Oreste according to Ifigenia, with the opera dramatising the relationship between these two central figures.
Click here for the Director’s Note (in the program notes)
Click here for Reflections
Tan Shou Chen 