Open to Public
The Suppliants Project
Support for our digital programming is provided, in part, by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
About the play
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The Suppliants by Aeschylus
In Aeschylus’ ancient play The Suppliants, fifty women who are fleeing forced marriages travel from Egypt to Argos in order to ask King Pelasgus for asylum. At first, Pelasgus refuses to help them, but the Argive people rally behind the women and convince their king to allow the refugees to remain under the city’s protection. When a large group of Egyptian men arrive in Argos, demanding their women back, King Pelasgus threatens them and summons his army to drive them away. The play ends with the women retreating to safety and finding asylum within the walls of Argos.
Cast Members
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David Denman
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Daphne Rubin-Vega
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Andrea Patterson
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Dorina Castillo
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Frankie Faison
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David Zayas
Explore Projects
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War & Mental HealthThe Tecmessa ProjectThe Tecmessa Project presents readings of Sophocles’s Ajax, an ancient play about the visible and invisible wounds of war, as the catalyst for discussions focusing on the unique challenges faced by military family members, including couples, children, caregivers, and communities. This project is designed to promote understanding, compassion, and positive action.
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IncarcerationPrometheus in PrisonPrometheus in Prison is an innovative public health project that presents readings of Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, an ancient Greek play about god who is imprisoned for stealing fire and giving it to humans, as a catalyst for powerful discussions about the challenges faced by individuals, families, and communities whose lives have been touched by the criminal justice system. For the past decade years, this groundbreaking project has been used to open up healing dialogue in a variety of settings, including prisons, detention centers, and public venues throughout the country and the world.
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Pandemic & Climate CrisisThe Oedipus ProjectThe Oedipus Project presents acclaimed actors reading scenes from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King as a catalyst for powerful, constructive, global discussions about the climate crisis, ecological disaster, ethical leadership, and environmental justice. Sophocles’ ancient play, first performed in 429 BC, just after the first wave of a plague that killed nearly one-third of the Athenian population, is a story of arrogant leadership, ignored prophecy, intergenerational curses, and a pestilence and ecological collapse that ravages the archaic city of Thebes. Seen through this lens, Oedipus the King appears to have been a powerful tool for helping Athenians communalize trauma and loss, while interrogating their own complicit role in the suffering, not just of those around them but of generations to come.