There is no shortage of
productions of theater, modern and ancient Greek and from around the world,
every summer in Greece. Athens is the epicenter with a strong magnetic pull
towards Epidaurus. The largest producer of events is thus named the
Athens-Epidaurus Festival. Epidaurus, with the largest and most famous theatre
has only a handful of performances largely because of the delicate condition of
the venue. It makes up for that by the large numbers of spectators it can
accommodate, more than 10,000 per performance.
But the good news is that every
production that is shown a couple of times at Epidaurus goes on a tour to
smaller cities around Greece so if you missed it in Epidaurus, you may be able
to catch in, say, Thessaloniki, if you happen to be there on the right dates. I
caught a performance of Aeschylus’ Oresteia on Αugust 26 and 27, 2019 at the Theatro
Dassous.
The trilogy is performed over two
nights with Agamemnon for the first night and Libation Bearers
and Eumenides on the second night. Different directors are
assigned to each play and the result is interesting but uneven. I considered Libation
Bearers as the most successful with the Eumenides the
least praiseworthy of the three. They all have their virtutes but some had more
fine points than others.
AGAMEMNON
Agamemnon is
directed by Io Voulgaraki with Evi Saoulidou as Clytemnestra. The large playing
area of the Theatro Dassous has only a square, wooden scaffold in the centre
with a cracked mask mounted on it for a set.
There are some people entering and exiting the playing area before the
play begins with one of the most famous scenes in all drama. It is the Watchman
(Stelios Iakovidis) who is sitting on the roof of Agamemnon’s palace waiting
for a signal that the Trojan War is over. The signal will come from beacons lit
at strategic points between Troy and Argos. That is what Clytemnestra has
devised so that she will be informed pronto of the end of the war and
the return of her husband Agamemnon. She has something in store for him.
Clytemnestra is a complex character
who must welcome the returning hero Agamemnon who is bringing Cassandra as his war
trophy and bears responsibility for the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigeneia at
Aulis. Clytemnestra has taken on a lover, her husband’s cousin Aegisthus
(Alexandros Logothetis), and the two have been plotting the murder of
Agamemnon. Saoulidou does superb work in
showing Clytemnestra as a powerful character able to dominate, pretend to
welcome her husband and then killing him in his bath.
Cassandra is a tragic figure. She
was Apollo’s mistress who gave her the gift of prophesy. She has become
Agamemnon’s slave and mistress and she knows her fate and the fate of everyone else.
Despina Kourti is regal, tragic and outstanding in the role.
Agamemnon is a relatively minor
character but Argyris Xafis brings out his arrogance in a good performance.
The Chorus as usual plays a major
role in the play and constitutes a major problem for the director. In this play
it is made up of the elders of Argos who were not sent off to the war in Troy.
Voulgaraki uses various methods for their delivery of their lines. They speak
in unison, separately and chant. She provides a clarinet obbligato for a short
stretch and otherwise gives us a reasonably good rendition of an almost
impossible task.
LIBATION
BEARERS
Libation Bearers is
performed together with Eumenides the following night, directed
by Lilly Meleme and I think is the most effectively done of the three plays.
Years after the murder of Agamemnon,
Orestes returns to Argos under orders from Apollo to avenge his father’s death.
He meets his sister Electra at his father’s grave and the plot develops until
Clytemnestra is killed.
The Chorus is made up of Argive
women, dressed in black dresses with trains. Monika Erika Kolokotroni provides
some astute and fitting choreography and movements for the Chorus. Meleme and
Kolokotroni do not allow the Chorus to remain static but make it part of the
plot development so that it is involved even during dialogues. There is a good variety
in speaking and chanting and in the end the Chorus becomes a major contributor
to the high quality of the production.
Giannis Niarros presents Orestes as
a young man with a mission to commit perhaps the worst crime imaginable but
pushed by divine edict and encouraged by his friend Pylades (Giorgos Stamos).
Orestes is joined by his sister Electra (Maria Kitsou) who gives an emotional
speech during the recognition scene with her brother. In addition to them, he
has the encouragement of the Chorus and his old Nurse (Agoritsa Ikonomou).
Orestes needs to fool the wily
and suspicious Clytemnestra of Filareti Komninou and manage to get her lover
Aegisthus (Giorgos Chrysostomou) back to the palace alone. Komninou must be
gracious, tough, delighted at the death of her son Orestes without revealing it
and a master of emotional blackmail. How can you kill your mother from whose
breast you were fed as a baby? She begs for her life but it does not work and
he kills her.
With proper choreography and use
of the Chorus and a fine cast Meleme produces a fine-tuned and well-paced production.
EUMENIDES
I wish I could say the same for Eumenides
as directed by Georgia Mavragani with Dramaturgical Advisor Dimosthenis
Papamarkos.
The Eumenides are the reformed Erinyes
or Furies who pursue Orestes to punish him for the murder of his mother. We
find him at Delphi where the Furies have pursued him. The priestess Pythia
appears to pray. She finds Orestes and notices the Furies sleeping, having been knocked out by Apollo.
The ghost of Clytemnestra appears
and goads the Furies to do their job and punish Orestes. But he has been
spirited away to Athens by his defender Apollo. He goes to the Acropolis to pray
to Athene. Everything that he has done has been in obedience of Apollo.
What follows is the first jury
trial with Athenian citizens asked to decide on Orestes’ guilt or innocence
after hearing evidence. The trial is as much a dramatic event as a paean to
Athens for the development of a system of justice. Politics and drama blend.
Orestes and the Chorus in Eumenides. Photo: Patroklos Skafidas
That is a very brief outline of
the plot of Eumenides. Attempting to follow it in the production
is very trying. You go to the cast list before the performance begins seeking
the names of the characters and the actors. Forget it. Mavragani simply lists
the names of the actors in alphabetical order and good luck in figuring out who
represents whom.
The main characters of the play
are the furious and relentless Furies who are prepared to defy the gods in
their pursuit of Orestes. Mavragani and choreographer Alexia Nikolaou present
more a muddle than a clear role for the Chorus. The furious ghost of
Clytemnestra is effective but after that clarity is evasive.
Mavragani and her dramaturgical
advisor divide the play into some sixteen scenes
plus or minus an Introduction and an Exit. Each scene is announced. Two or more
actors deliver the lines of one character at times and the pace is slowed down
to a crawl and clarity goes by the board. In the end, this is a deeply
disappointing production.
The Oresteia is based
on the great myth of the curse of the House of Atreus. The murders come to an
end and in the Eumenides a system of justice is established for
the House of Atreus and for Athens. Aeschylus’s trilogy has resonated across
the centuries and is invariably judged as one of the greatest masterpieces of Western
drama. The political idea of trials by jury has also survived.
_______________
Agamemnon by
Aeschylus was performed on August 26, 2019. Libation Bearers and Eumenides
were performed on August 27, 2019 all at the Theatro Dassous, Thessaloniki. www.n-t.gr
James Karas id the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press. www.greekpress.ca
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