THE WATER'S EDGE. To 28 February.
London.
THE WATER’S EDGE
by Theresa Rebeck.
Arcola Theatre (Arcola 1) 27 Arcola Street E8 2DJ To 28 February 2009.
Mon-Sat 8pm.
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7503 1646.
www.arcolatheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 7 February.
New angles on old crimes.
Playwright Theresa Rebeck has re-situated the events of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon in present-day New England, showing things from the wife’s viewpoint. Having omitted Queen Clytemnestra’s lover, The Water’s Edge gives her equivalent, Helen (an ironic choice of name for a sympathetic female when you’re alluding to Greek myths) the moral high-ground.
Helen’s husband returns at the suitably casual opening of Fiona Morrell’s production. In tow is new girl-friend Lucy. Agamemnon brought Cassandra back from the wars with him, but she plays little part in Aeschylus, who has her reputation – cursed to speak the truth and never be believed - to call upon. Here, Lucy simply has little to say.
Underlying Aeschylus’ play is the daughter Agamemnon sacrificed to the gods, military responsibility over-riding family. Rebeck makes Richard guilty of neglect, having allowed his daughter to drown, fuelling the anger of other daughter Erica and son Nate over the 14 years since he walked out.
Rebeck’s keen to show events, rather than rely on Ancient Greek-style narration. So the bath where the wife’s revenge is handed out, stands in the open-air, neatly enough explained in that location. Then, surprisingly, its climactic use isn’t shown, only the foreplay and after-effects.
Yet the pent-up feelings are clear, in the smoulderingly polite surface of Madeleine Potter’s Helen and the teenage anger of Erica and the more confused-seeming Nate (what is the role-model for a young male here?). To focus on this, Rebeck has to send Richard and Lucy away for considerable stretches, but she could point out that after nearly 2,500 years it’s time the family left at home had its place, and a joint sense of injustice.
There’s a lot in this. Yet, while it’s right the new generation’s views are heard, and there’s an intriguing contrast between Nate’s involvement, hosing down the bath after use, and Erica’s revulsion at events, the play finally loses the tension of impending action to sustain the siblings’ complex viewpoints. Still, not knowing here to stop’s been many a playwright’s weakness, and till then The Water’s Edge has provided a fascinating new angle on theatre’s oldest family row.
Helen: Madeleine Potter.
Richard: Robert Cavanah.
Erica: Cressida Trew.
Nate: Mark Field.
Lucy: Kate Sissons.
Director: Fiona Morrell.
Designer: Charlie Damigos.
Lighting: Ben Payne.
Sound/Composer: Soumik Datta.
Dialect coach: Sonya Ross.
Assistant director: Eva Melas.
2009-02-11 00:16:33