Agamemnon: The Circle of Blood
A unique international theatrical experience is coming to Brussels after New York and Athens
From La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York to a rapidly expanding European festival circuit, Agamemnon: The Circle of Blood by Rafika Chawishe is emerging as a bold international theatrical phenomenon.
Book your tickets now at https://www.more.com/be-el/tickets/theater/agamemnon/
From La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York to a rapidly expanding European festival circuit, Agamemnon: The Circle of Blood by Rafika Chawishe is emerging as a bold international theatrical phenomenon.
Book your tickets now at https://www.more.com/be-el/tickets/theater/agamemnon/
Premiered and presented by the legendary La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, the production has quickly positioned itself at the intersection of theatre, cinema, and documentary performance, attracting strong audience response and critical attention for its uncompromising political and aesthetic language.
Following its world premiere in New York, the production has been invited to major international platforms, including the opening of the Ancient Drama Festival of the National Theatre of North Macedonia, the New Drama Festival in Bratislava, as well as upcoming presentations at Parkteatren / City Theatre Stockholm, London, and Brussels.
What began as a radical re-reading of Aeschylus’ tragedy has evolved into a cross-border stage work that reframes ancient myth through the urgency of contemporary geopolitics. Set in a post-war Western landscape, Agamemnon: The Circle of Blood confronts the aftermath of conflict, where systems of power collapse into emotional and moral exhaustion, and history becomes a lived, present-day trauma.
The production merges live performance, cinematic language, and testimonial material rooted in displacement narratives, creating a hybrid form that dissolves the boundary between stage and screen.
At its core, Clytemnestra emerges not as a fixed tragic archetype, but as a fractured contemporary figure - mother, exile, border subject, political body - constantly shifting identities in a search for agency and truth. Rafika Saouiss performs these transformations live on stage, constructing a multi-layered monologue that oscillates between intimate testimony and collective memory.
The cinematic dimension of the work expands this universe further: Manos Vakousis appears as Agamemnon, Samuel Akinola as the Herald, and Kris Rantanof as Aegisthus, generating a continuous dialogue between live presence and filmed reality.
Since its debut, the production has been recognized for its uncompromising fusion of documentary and theatrical form, redefining ancient tragedy as a contemporary space of political fracture and human displacement.
As critic Yohanna M. Roa wrote:
“a docu-fiction performance that transforms the story of Agamemnon into a contemporary battlefield - where life itself is experienced as a war zone.”
Rafika Chawishe an international actress, known for her work across stage and screen - including Das zweite Attentat (Amazon Prime), Miss Violence (Venice Film Festival), and Glykanisos - continues to develop a distinct artistic voice building a body of work that speaks across borders, languages, and fractured histories.
PROJECT IDENTITY
Concept & Direction and Performed by: Rafika Chawishe
CAST (ON STAGE)
Rafika Chawishe (Clytemnestra)
CAST (ON SCREEN)
Manos Vakousis (Agamemnon)
Kris Rantanoff (Aegisthus)
Samuel Akinola (Herald)
Rada (Cassandra)
Ioanna Angelidi (Chorus Leader)