The Oresteia - (Modern Plays) by Simon Stone (Paperback)

About the Book

A contemporary family wakes up in a Greek myth and can't seem to find a way out of their hellish destiny in Simon Stone's new adaptation of The Oresteia.

Book Synopsis

A contemporary family wakes up in a Greek myth and can't seem to find a way out of their hellish destiny.

A family is haunted by its part in an unjust war, the painful burden of inherited trauma and intergenerational conflict, and the descent into an increasingly merciless vortex of violence.

Simon Stone's adaptation of The Oresteia shows us that as long as humankind wages wars and families tear themselves apart, this story will remain painfully, cathartically relevant.

This edition was published to coincide with the production at London's Bridge Theatre in July 2026, produced by London Theatre Company and Wouter van Ransbeek.

About the Author

Simon Stone (born 19 August 1984) is an Australian film and theatre director, writer and actor. In 2007 Stone founded the independent theatre company The Hayloft Project and adapted and directed their inaugural production of Frank Wedekind's Frühlings Erwachen. This production was remounted in 2008 at Belvoir St Theatre and was described in The Sydney Morning Herald as "a lean, contained, ultimately furious, liberating production that is well-attuned to Wedekind's poetic rhythms, wit and pubescent discoveries." Other productions Stone adapted and directed for The Hayloft Project include Platonov, 3xSisters, The Suicide and The Only Child, a new version of Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf which won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Independent Production. In 2009 he directed Aleksei Arbuzov's The Promise for Belvoir, starring Ewen Leslie, Alison Bell and Chris Ryan. In 2010 he directed and co-wrote with Mark Leonard Winter, Thomas Henning and Chris Ryan a version of Seneca's Thyestes for the The Hayloft Project and Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. This production won Green Room Awards for Best Production, Best Adaptation and Best Ensemble. In 2011 Stone became the Resident Director at Belvoir. In his first year in the role he wrote and directed The Wild Duck, after Henrik Ibsen, which won the 2011 Helpmann Award for Best Play and was staged in London at the Barbican in 2014. Also in 2011 he also directed Robyn Nevin in Lally Katz's Neighbourhood Watch for Belvoir and adapted and directed Bertolt Brecht's Baal for the Sydney Theatre Company.