Greece
Dhruv Malhotra’s production of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, the first play in the Orestia trilogy, may not be a complete triumph, but it really is well worth seeing. With Greek tragedy there’s always a healthy risk that the latent melodrama of the text can take over and leave the whole thing feeling faintly ridiculous, especially in a student productions.
But this cast and crew neatly skirt the problem • playing up to the script in places but generally dealing with the material with a pleasing deftness. Agamemnon focuses on the broken relationship between the Greek king and his wife, Clytaemnestra. The relationship between the two is well observed, James Harris’ sneeringly arrogant yet deeply insecure Agamemnon playing off well against Dotty McLeod’s machiavellian Clytaemnestra.
The key scene, where Agamemnon is persuaded to walk on purple tapestries by his wife (the act of hubris which eventually leads to his downfall) is pitched well, although it perhaps has too much polish and not enough passion. This is the main problem with the performance as a whole • in a couple of cases the fear of lapsing into the laughable seems to have made actors timid, and such awkwardness sticks out.
Thankfully these are the exceptions rather than the rule: the principal actors, especially Virginia Hartley in the exceptionally diffi cult role of Cassandra (playing possessed without making the audience laugh out loud is never going to be easy) are excellent. By far the best thing about the characterisation is the way in which the cast and crew have brought out the savagery and ambivalence of all the characters • refusing to paint any character as either wholly commendable or detestable.
Agamemnon is a conquering hero, no doubt, but he’s also weak and insensitive in his relationships with the other character. The most ambivalent presentation is that of Aegisthus, who you can’t help but feel sorry for even as you understand that he’s orchestrated the murder of Agamemnon.
As the plot progresses towards the climactic scene, in which Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus stand over the corpses of Agamemnon and Cassandra, there is a shift in momentum • in general the later scenes feel more coherent and worked on than the earlier, although this may be more due to an imbalance in the material than the production itself.
The directorial decision to put such a heavy emphasis on the inexorable nature of destiny also adds to the sense that the play really begins to gather momentum as it hurtles towards its climax. Unfortunately, considering that this is a play built around macabre action, the physical side of the production is one of its weakest. When Clytaemnestra pulls Aegisthus toward her and away from the denunciations of the Chorus there is no palpable sense of desire or indeed any emotion.
Again, in a tight production, it’s a shame that such a small problem should stand out.
4th May 2006