cover image: leaf of a manuscript of the Assemblies of Hariri
The first surviving play in the history of western drama, THE PERSIANS represents a courageous act on the part of its author. The subject of Aeschylus’s play was, in part, the conquering of the Persians by the Greeks, but he presented that event to his Greek audience not from their point of view, but from that of the defeated Persians.
In this modern version of the play, Robert Auletta shifts the action of the play from Persia to the Iraq of the first Gulf War, and like Aeschylus, asks Americans to question and challenge their views of the enemy.
originally produced at The Salzburg Festival in Austria
5 M, 1 F
I S B N 0-88145-305-6, $12.95