Each fall, this series features a classical tragedy or comedy in the Getty Villa's dramatic Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theater, a classical outdoor theater based on ancient prototypes.

Video: The director and cast on working in the Getty Villa's Outdoor Classical Theater

One of the poet Sophocles' most elegant and haunting works, Elektra celebrates the human desire for justice, and the costs exacted upon those who seek it. The Argive princess Elektra has witnessed the murder of her father (King Agamemnon) by her vengeful mother (Clytemnestra). She lives for the day when she can avenge that slaughter. For years, Elektra pines and prays, a prisoner in her father's palace, pinning all her hopes on the return of her younger brother, Orestes. Finally, the day arrives: justice is enacted. In this work, Sophocles demonstrates the importance of being careful about what we pray for.

The world premiere of this newly commissioned translation by celebrated playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker is directed by Carey Perloff, artistic director of San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater.

The Company

Tyrees Allen—Aegisthus
Olympia Dukakis—Chorus leader
Manoel Felciano—Orestes
Sharon Omi—Chorus/vocalist
Linda Park—Chrysothemis
Annie Purcell—Elektra
Pamela Reed—Clytemnestra
Michael Wells—Pylades
Jack Willis—Tutor
Theresa Wong—Cellist/vocalist

Timberlake Wertenbaker—Translator
Carey Perloff—Director
Bonfire Madigan Shive—Composer/Musical Director
Christopher Barreca—Scenic Designer
Candice Donnelly—Costume Designer
Geoff Korf—Lighting Designer

The role of Chorus leader will be played by Sharon Omi on September 30, 2010.

Carey Perloff is celebrating her 19th season as artistic director of Tony Award–winning American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in San Francisco, where she is known for directing innovative productions of classics, championing new writing for the theater, and creating international collaborations with artists such as Robert Wilson and Tom Stoppard. This is Perloff's second encounter with Sophocles' Elektra, having directed the world premiere of Ezra Pound's version of the play at Classic Stage Company in New York in 1988.

Timberlake Wertenbaker's award-winning plays have garnered much acclaim on Broadway, London's West End, and beyond. They include The Grace of Mary Traverse; Our Country's Good, which won the Laurence Olivier Award for play of the year in 1988 and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for best new foreign play in 1991; The Love of the Nightingale; Three Birds Alighting on a Field; Credible Witness; Galileo's Daughter; Arden City; and The Line. Translations and adaptations include Ariane Mnouchkine's Mephisto; Eduardo de Filippo's Filumena; Jean Anouilh's Wild Orchids; Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannos, Oedipus at Kolonos, and Antigone; Euripides' Hecuba and Hippolytus; and Gabriela Preissova's Jenufa.

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Related Exhibition: The Art of Ancient Greek Theater
This major international loan exhibition is the first exploration in nearly sixty years of the many ways Greek plays and stagecraft inspired classical artists, whose works are often the only surviving evidence of the performing arts in antiquity. The Art of Ancient Greek Theater will be on view throughout the run of Elektra. Visitors are encouraged to explore all of the galleries including this exhibition from 7:00 to 7:45 p.m., before the performance.