Written and directed by Guelan Varela-Luarca and Chay Yew, the work-in-progress performances will take place at the Getty Villa on Saturday, November 18, at 7pm, and Sunday, November 19, at 2pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online. The play is co-produced by East West Players, and stage management is by Darlene Miyakawa.*
On Imperial Beach in San Diego, a traumatized and houseless man, Estoy, fights to justify his reasons for killing his mother, Temay, a Filipino-American nurse. Filled with anguish, Estoy recalls the inevitable events that led up to the murder.
“Aeschylus’ Oresteia has always been a source of tremendous inspiration and fascination for me and Guelan as playwrights and directors. When Getty provided us with an opportunity to revisit this Greek epic, we wanted to reinterpret through the Filipino lens, as there are currently far and too few Asian retellings of this classic work,” says Chay Yew, co-writer and co-director. “We hope to center the story on justice and the women of this myth, celebrating the power and resilience of Filipinas. When discussing how we are to collaborate on this project, we thought of a unique collaboration as hyphenate artists; we will write and direct this project as partners.”
The cast includes Ramon de Ocampo* as Agamemnon, Tess Lina* as Clytemnestra, Zandi De Jesus* as Electra, Reggie Lee* as Aegisthus, Andres Paul Ramacho as Orestes, and Amielynn Abellera* as Iphigenia.
For over a decade, Getty has hosted its Villa Theater Lab series, an exciting forum for the reinterpretation of classical theater. These workshops feature new translations of Greek and Roman plays as well as contemporary works inspired by ancient literature. Past performances have included Medea Refracted, Letters from the Black Sea, Cassandra, an Agony, After Iphigenia, Cowboy Elektra, and more.
*Members of the Actors’ Equity Association
About East West Players
East West Players (EWP) is the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work, was founded in 1965, at a time when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (APIs) faced limited or no opportunities to see their experiences reflected outside of stereotypical and demeaning caricatures in the American landscape. EWP not only ensures that API stories are told, but works to increase access, inclusion, and representation in entertainment and media.