The Tantalus Plays: A Ten Play Cycle

For lovers of the Greek tragedy, These plays cover the orestiaian and Trojan war plays with very little overlap from the extent plays. These plays occur in cronological order which do not conencide with the extent plays. Very well written very well researched.

I saw this play in England and it was absolutely phenominal. The stories are being told to a group of American girls on a Greek beach so it is very understandable by the Westerner. I love all of these stories and feel that both someone who is new to Greek mythology, as well as someone well read in the subject, can really gain a lot from this book. To be honest, I was dreading the idea of sitting through such a very long play, but when it was over I didn't want it to end and could have seen the whole thing again the next day. I highly recommend this. Also, as an actress, there are fabulous scenes in this play and monologues for both men and women.

The unabridged version of this play, if performed in its entirity, would come in at just under 15 hours. TANTALUS is a new collection of cycle plays written by John Barton, famous for his work with The Royal Shakespeare Company, and is a continuation of his ten-hour cycle, THE GREEKS. The story focuses on the Trojan War, broken into three parts: The Outbreak of War, The War, and the Homecomings. Mixing in with modern settings and transporting back to ancient Greece of the 12th century BC, TANTALUS brings the timeless concerns, dramas and issues that were important to the Greeks into our contemporary world. The play focuses on many of the famous mythological figures of Homeric poetry and Greek tragedy, such as Agamemnon and Menelaus, Clytemnestra and Helen, Achilles, Neoptolemus, Odysseus and others, to give a perplexing and highly accessable version of the War that was ten years in the fighting. Originally staged with the Denver Center Theatre Company and The Royal Shakespeare Company, under the Direction of Sir Peter Hall, TANTALUS' world premiere became the focal point of epic theatre. The original production, which was an adaption of John Barton's script, runs approximately 10 1/2 hours, being broken into three nights of theatre, or one-day marathon performances, running from ten in the morning until roughly ten at night. The production has powerful performances, breathtaking scenic devices and a compelling and fascinating story which shows us that the Greeks are not as "ancient" as we might think. This production is currently on tour in Western Europe throughout the 2001 season. While this is an endurance read, it is truly a wonderful work for theatre buffs and classicists alike.