[COMPLETE] The Oresteia, by Aeschylus - PL/ce

Caeristhiona · Post by **Caeristhiona** » October 2nd, 2006, 12:09 am

This project is now complete - http://librivox.org/the-oresteia-by-aeschylus/.

smijen is now the BC for this project.

Great though my respect is for Shakespeare, I think we've been paying too little homage for the originators of theatre as we know it. That being said, I'd like to get together a reading of the Oresteia, one of the greatest tragedic cycles ever written (second only to the Oedipus cycle, perhaps).

I'm doing this as a trilogy for several reasons, the most important being consistency. If you sign up for a character in one play, I'd like you to take that character on in all the plays. All three plays are relatively short -- the entire cycle is no longer than 100 pages -- so it is far from a daunting task. And of course, it's easier for me to keep track of one thread than three.

That being said, here is the link to the text we're using:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8604

Edit me

Upload your completed file here:
http://upload.librivox.org

(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
Use "ce" as the MC for this project.

It would be helpful if you linked me to a recording of your voice when you request a part, for "audition" purposes.

Please record in .wav format, for quality control (I know they're annoyingly large, but bear with me.)

Leave three seconds of silence between lines, for ease of editing. (Not lines of text, of course, but individual speeches.)

When you submit your recordings, please title them as follows:

[character]_[play].wav

For example:

cassandra_agamemnon.wav
orestes_libation-bearers.wav
chorus_furies.wav

Don't worry about ID3 tags; they'll be added when the parts are edited together.

kristin · Post by **kristin** » October 2nd, 2006, 12:25 am

Oh, once again I just can't resist a play. Could I maybe (please) read Cassandra.

I've got a couple recordings here. But would prefer you listen to Patterns.
http://librivox.org/long-poems-collection-001/

Caeristhiona · Post by **Caeristhiona** » October 2nd, 2006, 12:28 am

Beautiful reading. Completely lovely.

Of course you may have Cassandra.

She is only featured in Agamemnon, seeing of course as she is dead by the end. Still, she is second only to Clytemnestra and the Chorus in the number of lines, so it's a pretty significant part.

And, she is all yours.

ceastman · Post by **ceastman** » October 2nd, 2006, 12:32 pm

I'd like to be considered for Athena. I've not read much in that vein as yet; you can get an idea of my reading style over here:

http://www.graduate.net/~clombard/Librivox/DreamDays

I'd also be glad to put up the chunk of Purgatorio that I read for Gesine's Inferno project for you to listen to; that's probably a bit closer. Or I can record an audition of Athena bits.

I'll also take on MC duties for this project. ID3 tags, file scheme, summary, tentative due date, yadda yadda. You know the drill.

Will go stick in To Come - Collaborative Projects.

-Catharine

frenchaudrey · Post by **frenchaudrey** » October 2nd, 2006, 2:50 pm

I would love to read for Electra!
Ill try to post a sample reading later tonight in case you need one for consideration. But right now I am being summoned to the kitchen to help prepare French Onion Soup

This project is gonna be great!
( and a nice break from our beloved Shakespeare

)

~Claire

kayray · Post by **kayray** » October 2nd, 2006, 3:03 pm

I suggest dubbing all the chorus voices together (like the chorus recordings for Pirates of Penzance) for every line that the chorus reads. I think switching between voices will be confusing for the listener, and having all those overdubbed voices in the chorus will sound really spooky and cool! I'll bet a clever editor could bring one voice forward and let the others be a bit softer in the background, too, for maximum comprehensibility.

And I'd like to sign up for the Furies chorus! :)

frenchaudrey · Post by **frenchaudrey** » October 2nd, 2006, 3:25 pm

Here's a quick reading for Electra-
Let me know if you want to hear more or something different.

https://www2.sendthisfile.com/d.jsp?t=rG4N1f5rkUd4xErzpfwMSSD3

~Claire

Caeristhiona · Post by **Caeristhiona** » October 2nd, 2006, 8:53 pm

frenchaudrey, lovely audition! I'm rather impressed that you actually found your lines and recorded them, instead of giving me a previous recording.

You are only featured in The Libation-Bearers, but again, you have a lot of lines in that one play.

ceastman, same thing! Your voice is perfect for Athena -- you have a very matter-of-fact reading style which just fits the chief justice of the first Athenian court. I believe that you are featured only in The Furies.

kayray, by all means add your voice to the chorus of Furies. If you finish, maybe you'd like to contribute something to the Athenian women as well?

frenchaudrey · Post by **frenchaudrey** » October 3rd, 2006, 7:46 am

Hooray!

So of the three plays, electra appears in the 2nd one? did i get that right? and if so, are we recoding all of them or just the first one now?

either way, im pretty excited

~Claire

ceastman · Post by **ceastman** » October 3rd, 2006, 11:20 am

Cool stuff!

Out of curiosity, do you want to do these as individual works, or three works all together as a single thing?

-Catharine, who couldn't get a good sense of how long each of these things are.

PS sending files back and forth - people may want to compress their .wavs with eg WinRAR or Stuffit

timberwolfmage · Post by **timberwolfmage** » October 3rd, 2006, 11:48 am

I will be a Fury with kayray. *bounces* Do we get to do all spoooooky-voice sort of thing or does it have to be normal speech?

kayray · Post by **kayray** » October 3rd, 2006, 2:10 pm

Hey, another thought about the chorus parts. What if you limit the chorus to, say, two or three or four cast members. (a couple of men, a couple of women?). What if the first chorus actor to read posts his audio files, and then the other chorus members record their parts while listening to the first part, so the timing matches, more or less. Then layering the audio files together would probably work great.

kayray · Post by **kayray** » October 3rd, 2006, 2:14 pm

And another question. The link to the text goes to "THE HOUSE OF ATREUS. (Aeschylus)" Is that what we're reading?

Caeristhiona · Post by **Caeristhiona** » October 3rd, 2006, 2:37 pm

1) You can do spooky voices. But only if you are a Fury.

2) We are in fact reading "The House of Atreus." That's not what it's traditionally called...but it's what the translation is called for some reason.

3) The three plays are going to be recorded as a single project, though they will be divided up probably into individual plays instead of chapters. So, yes, Electra appears only in the second play, Athena in the third, et c. In the end they'll all be spliced together. As far as finding the beginnings and ends of each play, look for the new cast lists. Each play begins with a Dramatis Personae. If your character is listed in only one play, then that's the only one you need to worry about.

4) That is a good idea, Kara.

Care to provide the model for our Furies?

kayray · Post by **kayray** » October 3rd, 2006, 2:45 pm

Caeristhiona wrote:
4) That is a good idea, Kara. :) Care to provide the model for our Furies?

Yes! Will get to that asap!