Ambiguity Of The Houses In The Watchman's Agamemnon

In Agamemnon, there are almost no mentions of a physical world. Instead of depriving the reader a world to put the story in, this opens up the world to interpretation. In the Watchman's speech, he talks about keeping watch from "the roofs of Atreus," which could mean the literal roof of the palace, but also could mean from a high point in Argos, like a watchtower (line 3). The next mention of a concrete set piece is on line 901, when Clytemnestra orders her subordinates to lay out tapestries for Agamemnon to walk into the palace on. The play describes the color, but not the way in which they are laid out. They might be a few, smaller tapestries depicting a story, or on long roll with a pattern stitched on. The palace doors are a central part

In this version, the play opens with the Watchman perched in an alcove. The space seems to suggest a watch tower, but is later revealed to be over the doors, which might indicate that it is part of the palace. 
The ambiguity of the Watchman's station isn't important to this particular staging, but the staging could have been more purposeful, being either clearly the roof or clearly a watchtower. However, the minimalism of the Watchman's alcove is consistent with the minimalism of the rest of the staging. The doors are one of the most interesting parts of the set, blending into the rest of the wall panels when closed. When they're open, they are the central part of the set, filling the full vertical space of the stage. The doors frame the speaker standing there, most often Clytemnestra, drawing the audience's eye towards her, but also making her look small in comparison to the doors. The tapestries are the most clearly described set piece the text. In this production, when Clytemnestra calls for the tapestries, a red carpet is rolled from the palace doors to the main stage, looking somewhat tongue-like, but not as much as the text seems to

This is first shown with the appearance of the Watchman, who is standing on top of what looks like a defensive wall and is wearing a traditional conical bamboo hat. The wall suggests a strength of leadership, whether it be past or present, because of the labor required to build the it. Staging-wise, the wall allows the Watchman to move around during his speech, making it more dynamic. When the rest of the stage is lit and the doors appear, they're modern looking and different than what the audience is expecting. Set against a brick wall, they wouldn't look out of place in an office building today. In fact, they resemble elevator doors and are even automated. Both the doors and the wall take the play in a different direction than the world of Ancient Greece, but the tapestries, are similar to the National Theater's. When summoned, two attendants bring out a wide, plain red cloth that is thin and almost stretchy looking, resembling a tongue lolling out of a mouth more than the National Theater’s