What better place to stage a 2,500-year-old Greek play than amidst ancient artifacts, many depicting mythological figures and deities?

That was the idea behind the University of Pennsylvania Theatre Arts Program’s imaginative spring production of “The Eumenides” at Penn’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

"One of the ways that I was thinking about this ancient Greek play was in terms of its relationship to history,” says Marcia Ferguson, director of “The Eumenides” and of Penn’s Theatre Arts Program. “We have the Penn Museum, this amazing resource on campus, and I reached out to them.”

“The Eumenides” is the third play in Aeschulyus’ tragic trilogy, “The Oresteia.” In it, Orestes faces the consequences of murdering his mother, Clytemnestra, wife and murderer of his father, Agamemnon. Orestes finds himself tormented by the Furies, underworld goddesses who punish people who murder family members. Athena is the character who renders judgment on the murder case.

The April production on campus was a partnership between Ferguson’s class, “Theatre Arts 350: Rehearsal and Performance,” and the Museum, with funding from a grant from the Provost’s Interdisciplinary Arts Fund.

Featuring original music by composer Patrick Lamborn, the production was performed in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania Theatre Arts Program’s artistic resident for 2016, Sebastienne Mundheim, a Penn alum and the founder and artistic director of White Box Theatre, who created the set design and costumes.  

The cast led the audience through the third floor galleries for each act: the Pepper Hall gallery for Act One, Chinese Rotunda for Act Two and Upper Egypt Gallery for Act Three.

The actors as well as the audience could view the Museum’s collections as physical components of the set and design. The audience also had the option of attending a pre-show gallery tour of the Museum’s ancient Greek artifacts.

For Ferguson, Mundheim and the eight cast and three crew members, putting on the production at the Museum was thrilling but also challenging.

“Logistically performing in the Museum, where do you put the lights?” asks Grayce Hoffman, a senior from Limerick, Pa., who played Athena. “How do you turn off the Museum lights? How much do you want of theatrical lighting versus natural light?"

“In Pepper Hall, there’s boomerang acoustics,” says Ferguson. “I coached the students to take the resonances and try to use them to their advantage instead of fighting them.”

So, the actors focused on articulation, enunciation and vocal energy to recite their lines.

In the Chinese Rotunda, where the acoustics are not well suited for dialogue, Mundheim devised a stylized action scene for Act Two, with the Furies chasing Orestes.

For the final act of the play, which contains most of the dialogue, Ferguson chose the Upper Egypt Gallery.

“Upper Egypt is where they have hangings on the walls, which deadens or flattens that acoustic boom,” says Ferguson. “It’s the most audible space.”

In the gallery, the Museum’s huge sculpture of Ramesses II added to the ambience for Orestes’ trial. Furguson says positioning Athena in front of the great Ramesses II figure enhanced the scene.

“To me the object bespoke judgment or justice,” says Ferguson.

“There's one moment when she [Athena] is standing right in front of the sculpture when she is talking about how the judgment is going to take place and how it is going to be arrived at, and who is going to be a part of the decision."

 “The Museum was incredibly generous with us for providing us with this space and for providing the students with this rare opportunity.” says Ferguson.

 She says the experience of performing in the Museum also inspired students to bring their imaginations and theatrical skills to the performance.

 "In this incredible setting where most people don't get a chance to perform, I can say that I delivered the speech in front of Ramesses,” says Hoffman, whose participation in the production is the topic of her senior honors thesis project.

Addtional photos of The Eumenides production:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/arts_at_penn/albums/72157666733430212