The Trial of Akhenaten

by Rachel Frankford

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Published: Nov 21, 2006

theater/exhibition

God's been on trial a whole lot lately, poor fellow. Now it's even going on retroactively. For proof, check out Vagabond Acting Troupe's The Trial of Akhenaten, a 25-minute play written specifically to be performed in the Penn Museum of Art and Architecture's exhibit "Amarna: Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun." The city of Amarna was built by the pharaoh Akhenaten (believed to be the father of King Tut), and razed just a generation later. His legacy turned to rubble so quickly because he angered the Egyptian people by replacing the traditional pantheon of gods with worship of just one, Aten (Akhenaten means "he who works for Aten"). In the play, things go even harder for the pharaoh after his death; he arrives in the underworld only to learn that the gods are putting him on trial for abandoning them (choose: Guantanamo or the underworld court of Osiris?). Despite the high stakes, "it's a fun, light piece," says Vagabond founder and director Aileen McCulloch. And it's performed in front of a 12-foot sphinx. This isn't Vagabond's first site-specific project with the museum; in 2003, Vagabond garnered a Barrymore for

Three Worlds Intertwined , a play written to accompany the museum's newly opened Mediterranean World galleries.

Nov. 25-26, Dec. 2-3, 1:30, 3 and 4 p.m., $5-$8, free Sundays, Lower Egyptian Gallery, Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St., 215-898-4000, www.museum.upenn.edu.

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