THYESTES. To 27 June.
London.
THYESTES
by Seneca translated by Caryl Churchill.
Arcola Theatre 27 Arcola Street E8 2DJ To 27 June 2009.
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat 20, 27 June 3pm.
Runs 1hr 15min No interval.
TICKETS: 020 7503 1646.
www.arcolatheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 10 June.
Supping full of classic horrors.
As the Quentin Tarantino of ancient Rome, Seneca wrote bloody tragedies for the Roman literati to sit around and read. Even in these tough times when art and life present unsavoury horrors – Monsters, the last production in this main Arcola space, was about the death of James Bulger – Seneca’s language can make flesh creep and stomachs turn.
Caryl Churchill’s version gives him a modern sensibility, allowing Polly Findlay’s stark, physically impressive production to probe the twisted psychologies of vengeful brothers. One, Atreus, famously serves-up the other’s children in a pie then indulges in post-prandial anatomy of the menu.
In this spacious yet confined-seeming arena emotional intensity and language create a physically and emotionally dark world, focusing on human factors, though references to the gods remain. Hannah Clark’s menacing environment is a disused industrial site, constricted light beaming through small windows, shelves filled with cardboard boxes and box-files, which suddenly appear spattered with blood.
Around this space, with its banks of audience concealed in the dark, hatred, power-play and revenge are worked through. At first, it’s as hard to get a handle on the who’s-who and what exactly’s happening as it is to find a focus in the diffused space.
But by the time Thyestes’ sons are taken by the apparently friendly Atreus, and Prasanna Puwanarajah’s horrified Messenger delivers the truth about their fate, aided by apparently explicit photos, the tension’s racked high. And it gets higher as Nick Fletcher’s Atreus offers Thyestes a drink syringed with his children’s blood (“an old family wine”) then reveals his revenge as Thyestes keeps asking to see his children.
Fletcher’s Atreus exudes a frightening cruelty as he closely observes his brother, considering each detail of his childlike wailing and despair. His casual shake of the head to refuse any relief, his concentration in capturing every nuance of agony, runs alongside frustration, the feeling he’s not made the most of the revenge.
When Jamie Ballard’s Thyestes moves from despair Findlay makes clear these things have no conclusion except possibly annihilation, expressed as the continuing background moan of Christopher Shutt’s sound-score ends with a blackout-accompanied bang.
Thyestes/Ghost of Tantalus: Jamie Ballard.
Atreus: Nick Fletcher.
Fury: Youssef Kerkour.
Messenger: Prasanna Puwanarajah.
Chorus: Michael Grady-Hall.
Young Tantalus: Larry McCartney.
Plisthenes: Oscar Frick/Balthazar Veljkovic.
Director: Polly Findlay.
Designer: Hannah Clark.
Lighting: Matthew Pitman.
Sound: Christopher Shutt.
Video: Mark Grimmer for 59 Productions.
Assistant sound: Wayne Harris.
Associate video: Lysander Ashton.
2009-06-11 00:48:14