'Iphigenia', "a rose of blood between bloody hands"

Since Aeschylus mentioned the sacrifice of Iphigenia in the ' Oresteia ' and Euripides told her story in two plays, 'Iphigenia in Aulis' and 'Iphigenia in Tauris', this mythological character has been brought to the stage in many ways and by such relevant authors as Racine, Goethe, Heiner Müller, Gluck, Cherubini - these two brought it to opera. It is undoubtedly one of the most adapted myths and with the most different views and readings. Now it comes to Madrid - it will be at the Bellas Artes Theater from June 11 to 15 - the version that premiered at the last Mérida Festival, and which bears the signature of Silvia Zarco . Directed by Eva Romero , it features a cast that includes Maria Garralon, Juanjo Artero, Beli Cienfuegos, Laura Moreira, Nuria Cuadrado, Alberto Barahona, Nestor Rubio, Ruben Lanchazo and Maite Vallecillo.

The story tells of the sacrifice of the Greek princess Iphigenia at the hands of her father, Agamemnon, to appease the gods and allow the Greek fleet to set sail for Troy. Silvia Zarco's version begins as Iphigenia's sacrifice is about to begin. "To our surprise," says the author, "the play will end as it began, with the sacrifice of another young woman, the Trojan Polyxena . The mothers of the murdered women, Clytemnestra and Hecuba , queens of both victors and vanquished, will be forced to disappear and remain silent. But they will not." The role of women is of capital importance. "'Iphigenia'," she continues, "is a work woven from three Greek tragedies that tell of the beginning, end, and return from the Trojan War. We travel to them because they document a crucial event that will define the role of women in Western civilization: the tragic mistake as a violent species that one day embraced the use of force to appropriate bodies and lands. The leaders of the Trojan War sacrificed their daughters and marginalized their mothers.

Sacrifice, duty, loyalty, and family are some of the issues addressed in the play. Eva Romero , the director, focuses on women. "Iphigenia's is the first violent death of a woman in Western literature. Agamemnon, her father and head of the Greek army, condemns and plants like a flag the root of violence against girls and women at the origins of our civilization. With 'Iphigenia,' we trace a map from kilometer zero of violence against women. This is the story of the forgotten and their condemned mothers. It is a rose of blood between bloody hands."