By Brandi Wylie ’24, student intern
“Agamemnon,” an adaptation of the original play by Aeschylus, does what many of Dan Day’s plays do: It takes a classic piece of theatre and adds a modern twist.
Day, associate professor of theatre, leads a cast and crew of eight student-actors, a stage manager and assistant stage manager,
The production will run in the Jerome Johnson Richardson Theatre on Nov. 3-5 and 9-12. Doors open at 7:45 p.m. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at wofford.edu/boxoffice. Student tickets are $5, and faculty and staff tickets are $10. All outside guest tickets are $12.
Audrey Buffington ’24, playing Clytemnestra, hopes that the ancient tale of Clytemnestra’s journey to revenge can serve as an example for the audience as to what not to do when they are put in the positions her character is in.
“I hope that ‘Agamemnon’ can bring people to see that (acts of violence are) not the way to (resolve conflicts),” says Buffington, a theatre major from Greenville, South Carolina. “Just be kind.”
Her character has a cursed lineage, as Buffington explains, and uses this production, which is the first of three plays in the trilogy of the Oresteia, to seek revenge for the death of her child.
The production’s cast and crew consist of eight student actors, a stage manager, assistant stage manager and director.
In addition to Buffington’s role, the department has cast Rachel Johnson ’24, a theatre major from Spartanburg, as Cassandra; Ryan Poole ’24, a theatre major from Charleston, South Carolina, as Aegisthus; Jack Tope ’26, an undeclared major from Decatur, Georgia, as Essential Worker; Tae’von Gibbs ’25, an undeclared major from Louisville, Kentucky, as Soldier; Erin Adams ’26, an undeclared major from Heath Springs, South Carolina, and Josie Thillet ’26, an undeclared major from Charlotte, North Carolina as Chorus; and Cole Geyer ’26, an undeclared major from West Columbia, South Carolina, as Agamemnon.
Anneka Brannon ’26, an undeclared major from Inman, South Carolina, is serving as stage manager, and Kimi Crouch ’26, an undeclared major from Clemmons, North Carolina, is assistant stage manager.
This is Geyer’s first Wofford theatre performance, which is something that they say has been to their advantage.
“It has been quite the trial by fire getting used to classes and being in a show with interesting dialect all at once, but it has also made fitting in at Wofford easier and less chaotic,” Geyer says.