“The Sacrificer,” a chamber opera by Martin Halpern, will be given a full production in the black box theater at the Davenport Theatre complex, 354 West 45th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan, on February 25, 26 and 27 at 8 PM.

Freely based on Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Tauris,” the opera uses classical materials as a parable about present-day jihadist terrorism. Iphigenia, daughter of the Greek king Agamemnon, and now a priestess in the temple of the goddess Artemis in Tauris, is forced by Tauris’s tyrannical king Thoas to condemn all foreigners to sacrificial execution before the goddess’s statue. One of these is a young Greek who turns out to be Iphigenia’s brother Orestes. After they recognize each other, they devise an ingenious plot to rescue the statue and transport it to Artemis’ temple in Greece. When Thoas learns of the plot, he tries to have them stopped, but Artemis herself intervenes, condemning Thoas as a perverter of true religion who claims divine sanction for the brutal murder of innocent people.

Featured in the cast are soprano Sarah Kleeman as Iphigenia, baritone Jim Trainor as Thoas, tenor Aram Tchobanian as Orestes, and mezzo-soprano Jann Degnan as Artemis. The pianist is Earl Buys, stage direction is by Jamibeth Margolis, stage manager is John Hooper, costumer is Anna Cole, and music direction is by the composer.

Admission, at $20, is available at the door.
For reservations, e-mail marhalp2@gmail.com.
Tickets are also available, at reduced rates, through tdf.