New Perspectives on Classic Myths: THE GREEK THEATRE PROJECT and THE ORESTEIA TRILOGY

Deborah Block as Clytemnestra and Robert DaPonte as her killer son Orestes, in PAC’s THE ORESTEIA TRILOGY. (Photo credit: Dan Hodge)

The Classics are classic for good reason: they explore universal themes, impart moral lessons, and remain relevant throughout history. Among this year’s Fringe Festival offerings were two premieres by local companies based on the timeless wisdom of classical mythology: Iris Theatre Company’s THE GREEK THEATRE PROJECT; and the Philadelphia Artists’ Collectives’ THE ORESTEIA TRILOGY.

Both productions were staged at the Broad Street Ministry, with each using a different architectural space in the historic building as the setting for its re-imagined tales. Figuring prominently in both was the cursed prophetess Cassandra, who could foresee the future but, ironically, could not convince anyone to heed her visions. One show was charming and bittersweet, the other bold and epic, but each effectively brought contemporary import to the classic paradigms.

THE GREEK THEATRE PROJECT was aptly structured in the format of ancient drama, with Prologue, Episodes, Odes, Peripeteia (here called “Reversal Recognition”), Catharsis, and Epilogue. Recounted by Cassandra (gently played by Iris’s Founding Artistic Director Jenny Jacobs), it told the stories of three mythic women (Psyche, Pandora, and Atalante) in pivotal episodes with their husbands (Eros, Epimetheus, and Hippomenes) through a program of motion and sound. Original choreography, incorporating athletic movement and interpretive dance, was set to popular love songs from American jazz, blues, soul, and Motown, and snippets of ancient texts were fused with bits of original writing, spoken by ensemble members or chanted by them as an unseen chorus from behind a curtain.

The likeable troupe performed on the bare floor, up close to the audience, with just a few telling props that elucidated the archetypes and their life-changing choices: a candle for the untrusting and disobedient Psyche; a box for the curious and impetuous Pandora; and an apple for the distracted and covetous Atalante. The post-modern costumes, movements, and musical selections further captured the distinctive personalities and amorous relationships of the mythic personages, while simultaneously relating them to our own period and fulfilling the company’s mission of celebrating the common threads that tie us all together.

If you missed the brief two-day run of this appealing 60-minute show in the Philadelphia Fringe, Iris plans to take it to Ireland next summer for the Galway Arts Festival.

Whereas THE GREEK THEATRE PROJECT was intimate, PAC’s THE ORESTEIA TRILOGY was grand; it contained all the innate power and intensity of ancient Greek tragedy. The brilliant new adaptation by director Brenna Geffers seamlessly synthesized the text of Aeschylus’s AGAMEMNON, THE LIBATON BEARERS, and THE FURIES (which debuted in Athens in 458 BC, and is the only intact trilogy to survive from ancient Greece) with excerpts from classical versions of ELECTRA, IPHIGENIA AT AULIS, and HELEN OF TROY, and original new passages extrapolated by Geffers from other classical myths.

Presented as a bare-bones script-in-hand reading, the workshop performance focused on the clarity of straightforward narration through readily comprehensible speech, postures, and gestures. The cast, costumed in solid black, moved strategically around the floor and gallery level of the Ministry’s interior, telling their stories of war, sacrifice, betrayal, vengeance, retribution, and justice with direct force and precision, and with no distractions.

The heightened emotions of the characters and changing moods of the dramas were accentuated by apropos sounds from a variety of percussion instruments and useful recaps by The Watchman/narrator, played by Josh Totora. He and the rest of the all-star ensemble gave the performances of their lives, evoking a compelling tone of gravity for the ill-fated characters and tragic events. David Blatt as Aegisthus, Brian McCann as Agamemnon, Robert DaPonte as Orestes, and Griffin Stanton-Ameisen as Menelaus were consistently commanding and gripping, their powerful voices amplified by the natural acoustics of the room. Fringe Festival co-founder Deb Block as Clytemnestra and Aime Kelly as Electra brought seductive passion to their roles of the murderous mother and daughter. Annette Kaplafka as the Furies was frighteningly evil and bloodcurdling, as she cursed and screamed and snaked her body through the balcony railing, and Kate Brennan, perfect in the role of Cassandra, was alternately defeated, distraught, impassioned, and desperate, convulsing from her frenzied visions of doom and the ironic plight of her gift of prophecy, lamenting, “I see, but I cannot make them hear.”

You can still see the last play of the trilogy, THE FURIES, on Monday, September 19, at 8 pm. And in it you will hear the tragedy for all times—the endless cycle of bloodlust and revenge that still plagues our world. For tickets, visit the Fringe Festival website at http://ticketing.theatrealliance.org/sites/livearts/details.aspx?id=19669.

THE ORESTEIA PROJECT
Inspired by Aeschylus’s ORESTEIA
Adapted and directed by Brenna Geffers
September 5-19, 2011
The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective
Broad Street Ministry
315 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
http://philartistscollective.weebly.com/