Ted Hughes' translation comprises Agamemnon, Choephori and The Eumenides. The production runs through Aug. 2 at Theater Two of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in the Hudson Valley.

Press notes for the Bard staging state that the Oresteia trilogy concerns "the ongoing tragedy and hereditary curse of a royal family. As ancient Greece’s most famous nuclear family explodes onstage, the production will draw parallels with war in the Middle East, the behind-the-scenes machinations of politicians, and the manipulative duplicity of the media."

"The trilogy sets up a cycle of revenge and retribution and then breaks it," director Gregory Thompson said in a statement. "There are many resonances for today: the cost of waging a foreign war; the debate over the death penalty; suicide bombers; the election of a man committed to justice and the rule of law; etc. The audiences will no doubt make their own connections. Certainly to a Brit it seems a very different play in 2009 than when I was asked to do the play in the summer of 2008 when Bush was still President and people were still being held in Guantánamo Bay without prospect of release."

Casting includes Derek Hutchinson, Mary Jo Randle, Hilton McRae, Beth Fitzgerald, Louise Collins, Richard Glaves, Rhys Meredith, Sandra Voe, David Fielder and Aoife McMahon.

The Oresteia will be presented on a rotating basis with weekend marathon performances. Bard is also offering round-trip transportation from Columbus Circle in Manhattan to the Fisher Center for the July 18 marathon. Bus tickets are $10. For tickets and further information phone (845) 758-7900 or visit SummerScape.