THE ORESTEIA announced for Bridge Theatre's summer 2026 season

Shehrazade Zafar-Arif 31 March, 2026, 16:21

The Bridge Theatre has announced a major new production of Aeschylus’ The Oresteia to play during its summer 2026 season, replacing Ivanov, which has been officially postponed to 2027 due to a scheduling conflict with lead actor Chris Pine.

About The Oresteia

Aeschylus's epic Greek tragedy, written over two millennia ago, is a powerful saga of revenge, power, and justice. The trilogy follows the young Orestes in the bloody fallout of the Trojan War during the power struggle within the House of Atreus. Orestes finds himself caught in a multi-generational cycle of violence as his parents, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, wage a private war of vengeance.

This landmark production, directed by Simon Stone, will bring a modern vision to this ancient play, aiming to raise timeless questions about morality and the cost of war. In this modernised adaptation, a contemporary family wakes up in a Greek myth and can't seem to find a way out of their hellish destiny.

Stone said, "The Oresteia is one of the theatre’s great foundational texts and it hasn’t lost any of its potency to this day."

The creative team

Australian director Simon Stone returns to the Bridge Theatre following his critically acclaimed staging of The Lady from the Sea, which starred Alicia Vikander and Andrew Lincoln, in 2025. Stone is known for his radical reimaginings of classic works, including Yerma and Phaedra.

He will reunite with the same creative team behind The Lady from the Sea, including set designer Lizzie Clachan, costume designer Mel Page, lighting designer Nick Schlieper, and casting director Jessica Ronane CDG, with music by Stefan Gregory.

The Oresteia follows the Bridge Theatre's run of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, which ends in May 2026. It will open on 2nd July 2026.

The Oresteia Tickets