Seniors Laura Breckenridge ’10 and Adam Zivkovic ’10 appear in a Lewis Center senior thesis production of two one-acts by Neil LaBute – “Iphigenia in Orem” and “Medea Redux” –at the Rocky-Mathey Theater at Princeton University on Saturday, November 14 at 6 PM and 9 PM and on Sunday, November 15 at 7 PM. Directed by Program in Theater faculty member Mark Nelson ’77, the double bill shows LaBute creating contemporary contexts for stories with the emotional range provided by ancient Greek drama. The show is free and open to the public on a first come, first served basis.
In Greek myth, Iphigenia was the daughter Agamemnon had to sacrifice to get to the Trojan War; Medea was the woman who killed her children after being abandoned for a new lover by their father. LaBute’s versions of these stories are disturbingly contemporary, fusing the rawness of violent stories ripped from today’s headlines and the metaphysical resonance of his classical precedents. As in his films In the Company of Menand Your Friends and Neighbors, LaBute sees the potential for real evil in the people next door.
“Iphigenia in Orem” and “Medea Redux” were first performed in 1999 as two of the three pieces comprising an evening entitled Bash and featuring Calista Flockhart. Breckenridge and Zivkovis are both pursuing the Certificate in Theater. Breckenridge, a Classics major, is particularly interested in how contemporary playwrights rewrite the classics. Zivkovic, a Religion major, is intrigued by the shows roots in the Mormon community of which LaBute was once a part. Both actors share an interest in performing monologues that require them to be emotionally naked as their characters reveal the ongoing capacity of human beings to commit tragic acts against those they profess to love most.
