When the audience enter, there are men standing on the stage, facing away from the audience. There's a hint of smoke and some mysterious drumming in the background. A flag, attached to the back of the stage is the only set. There is then the most spectacular, almost balletic, opening in which Elektra is thrown bodily (and bravely!) about the stage. In this small space, this immediately marks the production down as something special.

There is another piece in mid-performance when Orestes and his friends go to avenge his dead father, when the device of moving the actors in slow motion about the stage provides a glimpse of an army on the attack. The performers at that moment really do look like a Greek frieze from the side of a vase or urn. In the end, it is the direction that is the catalyst for this play. Following the plot (at least at the beginning) isn't too easy - there are many names to keep up with, but things do gradually become clearer.

Reducing it to its bones: The son of a nobleman (Orestes, played in a measured and dignified manner by Mofaro Makubika) and a daughter (Elektra, a chilly Louise Coleman) are determined to be revenged - or perhaps get justice - for their dead father, whom their mother (Clytemnestra, a slightly too enthusiastic Luis Valentine) has betrayed and killed. How this happens is what the plot reveals. In doing so, Euripedes seems to be asking questions about revenge and justice and about duty also. How far should the son and daughter go? Is it true, as Elektra claims, that women give their hearts to their lovers and not their children? Some wobbly psychology there perhaps, but Elektra's steely determination to get revenge (or justice) is the driving force of the play. The confrontation between her and her mother seemed momentous, but isn't easy to follow.

After that sparkling opening, things do get a little slower, mainly because it is necessary to concentrate quite hard on what is being said, and - this being Greek tragedy performed in an hour - the details in the speeches are quite dense. Simply the way that director Ricky Dukes moves so many characters around the small stage would be a triumph in itself. It is an additional joy that the set-piece opening and other moments provide just the right atmosphere for the characters' struggle with fate.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): David Chrysanthou - Kwabena. Louise Coleman - Elektra. Thomas Deplae - Pylades. Alvaro Flores - Nkomo. Joshua Jenkin - Nerrir. Robin Kirwan - Farmer Murimi. Mofaro Makubika - Orestes. Tim McFarland - Kwilla. Daniel Rodrigues - Chionesu. Luis Valentine - Clytemnestra.

Company Credits: Writer - Euripides (c 480-406 BC). Director - Ricky Dukes. Design - Heather Doole, Liam Welton, Ricky Dukes. Music - Liam Welton. Movement - Carrie Whitton, Ricky Dukes. Stage Management - Liam Welton, Heather Doole. Technical Operator - uncredited. Producer - uncredited. Company - Lazarus Theatre.

END

(c) Michael Spring 2008

reviewed Monday, 11 August 2008 / Camden People's Theatre

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008

www.fringereport.com