Aeschylus’ Persians and the Greek-Persian Wars

The Athenian playwright Aeschylus (?525-456 BC), author of more than seventy plays, was also a veteran of the Greek-Persian Wars of 490-479 BC. Aeschylus fought at both the land battle of Marathon (490 BC), and at the naval battle of Salamis (480 BC). His brother Cynegirus was killed at Marathon.
The Persians is one of only seven of Aeschylus’ plays to have survived intact since antiquity. It is also the earliest extant Greek tragedy. The play was produced in 472 BC, just eight years after the battle of Salamis which it describes.

UCSB historian John W.I. Lee will discuss the historical context of the Greek-Persian Wars, the life of Aeschylus, and the production of The Persians. His talk will immediately follow the performance of a modern adaptation of the play.

THE PERSIANS: APRIL 18 & 19 AT VICTORIA HALL THEATER

DIJO Productions and Virtual Theatre Company present Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation of the earliest surviving play in Western literature, The Persians by Aeschylus, at the Victoria Hall Theater in Santa Barbara on April 18 & 19.

Written almost 2500 years ago, The Persians is Aeschylus’ firsthand account of the heroism and tragedy of the Persian Wars. An unfinished war was begun by the father and continued with disastrous consequences by the son–political divisiveness abounds; a country is torn apart. The Persians recounts the story of Xerxes, who commands his mighty Persian armies into a war with Athens that defeated his father, Darius, a decade before. But this time, as they await reports from the distant battle field, Xerxes’ eager Persian Cabinet Ministers are determined that the past will not be repeated.

Reviewers unanimously praise American playwright and actress Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation—

“Serves and uses The Persians with true power and grace.”
—The New York Times

“It is more than relevant or timely. It is heart-wrenching and terrifying. We see the present and future right there, inside the past.” “The play, in a shimmering new adaptation … pulses with flawed humanity … McLaughlin’s language is so simply elegant and so lyrically alive that the actors need merely to make the words understood.”
—Oakland Tribune

“McLaughlin’s lean, muscular poetry crisply expresses Aeschylus’ drama. It’s often as immediate and troubling as the latest headlines. The cost of war takes on visceral immediacy in The Persians.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

Ed Giron will direct the Santa Barbara production. Recently, Ed directed Three One-Act Comedies at Center Stage Theater. Ed also has directed the classic comedies Harvey and Arsenic and Old Lace. As an actor, Ed recently portrayed J. Robert Oppenheimer in The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Jackson Pollock in Fifteen Rounds with Jackson Pollock, both produced by DIJO.

The Persians features Deborah Helm, Ed Lee, Alfred St. John Smith, Jerry Oshinsky, Mark Lee, Dennis Wood, Kathy Marden, Ed Giron, Lael Wageneck, Justin Stark, and Jamario Smith.

March 27 (Preview), March 28 (Opening); also March 29, 30 — performances at 8 pm; April 3, 4, 5 at 8 pm; April 6 matinee at 2 pm; April 9 (including lunch) at noon; April 10, 11, 12 at 8 pm.
EXTENDED RUN: APRIL 18 & 19 AT 8 P.M. USE DISCOUNT CODE TP 201 FOR 50% OFF REGULAR TICKET PRICE

General admission: $20 (preview $15) and Seniors/Students/Groups: $15.00. Tickets are available online or by calling (800) 494-8497. Victoria Hall Theater is centrally located at 33 West Victoria Street, Santa Barbara. The theater has stadium seating and excellent acoustics. The theater is adjacent to a public parking lot and is wheelchair accessible.