Every production of Greek tragedy doesn’t hold up. Quality of translation and adaptation, evocation, accessibility of the text. Pieces like Oedipus, The Oresteia, Medea, were conceived with a particular kind of rhetoric. Leaning more towards recitation than conversation, pronouncement rather than dialogue, the audience doesn’t always feel invited or included. Some years ago, a local theater staged Oedipus, with noteworthy performances. A problem (a trial for any company) is the long, convoluted explanation of how the misbegotten king, fulfills a curse disclosed to his parents by the Gods. It’s not a simple equation, and the performers must sustain a kind of frantic energy, without losing the audience. Too many theaters, I expect, are lost in the throes of reverence.
The Persians (we are told) is the oldest extant drama from ancient Greece, written by Aeschylus. Adapted by Ellen McLaughlin and staged by Undermain Theatre, it runs at 80 minutes. There are rope swings and rocks and elevated maps that serve as pedestals for the characters. The swings might serve as italics and/or contrast for elation, fear, chaos. All the characters are defined by abstraction (Justice, Religion) rank (Chairman, Admiral) and function (Herald). Perhaps this parses what might be the Chorus. Queen Atossa and her son, Prince Xerxes, are the only ones with personal identities.
The Persians opens with the wretched despair of the populace, waiting for word of what’s happening in their battle with the Greeks. Left to sort through the damage and ruin of their home; they describe the details of this catastrophe, the helplessness, the rage towards their enemy. Queen Atossa appears, also beside herself, struggling to choose between her obligations as a ruler, and the overwhelming impulse to simply give up. A Herald who arrives goes into even greater detail. They’re all baffled by the destruction the Greeks have wrought, when the Persians should have prevailed by sheer numbers. We suspect the Greeks have dominated by utter ruthlessness and cunning. And the Persians unable to grasp how casually the Greeks
part with thumanity. Soldiers though they may be.
Undermain’s The Persians is stupefying. Audacious, frank and gripping. We realize we’re witnessing a prolonged, outcry of undeniable loss. Anger at a vicious, depraved culture. Still, we wonder how far this jeremiad can take us. Then we are shaken to the bone. The wailing, the chanting, the singing, the supplication to the gods. We’re pulled into a realm of the fierce and shameless and completely authentic. How director Kara-Lynn Vaeni elicits this implacable experience, rising above device or rhetoric, I could not say. We all know Greek tragedy is supposed to be gargantuan, amplified. That it means to drown us in undeniable, primal emotion. Then we see a piece like Undermain’s The Persians and even after we’ve returned home, it won’t let go.
Undermain Theatre presents The Persians, playing May2nd-26th, 2024. 3200 Main Street, Dallas, Texas 75226. 214-747-5515. undermain.org