Regional

The Oresteia

 (Loeb Drama Center; 550 seats; $45 top per half)

By MARKLAND TAYLOR

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An American Repertory Theater presentation of the trilogy by Aeschylus, newly translated and adapted by Robert Auletta, performed in two parts. Directed by Francois Rochaix.
 
Clytaemnestra - Randy Danson
Orestes - Thomas Derrah
Chorus Leader - Alvin Epstein
Herald, etc. - Benjamin Evett
Watchman, etc. - Jeremy Geidt
Aegisthus, etc. - Will LeBow
Agamemnon, etc. - Charles Levin
Electra, etc. - Kerry O'Malley

 

In the nearly 2,500 years since Aeschylus wrote "The Oresteia" trilogy it has been endlessly translated, adapted, cut, pasted, deconstructed and reconstructed. All of which is a tribute to the eternal power of this theatrical colossus. Now it's the American Repertory Theater's turn to scale a dramatic peak only the bravest or most foolhardy resident theaters might attempt.

This being the American Rep, whose custom is to present classics in modern reinterpretations, what we don't get is an attempt at reviving the glory that was Greece -- classical grandeur, all-male casting, full-face masks, etc. What we do get is a more or less contemporary gloss on the trilogy -- more or less because its modernity is sometimes dated, including a pervasive flavor of 1920s Germany and, via the Chorus of Old Men in "Agamemnon," even a Dickensian aura. There's also a no-period, mixed-periods, all-periods approach, by now a woefully overdone generic cliche.

Yet "The Oresteia" is such an overwhelmingly exhilarating project that the American Rep must be applauded for even trying it, and the chief fascination of its production is the heady battle between the Aeschylus original and this interpretation -- the sheer power of the original triumphing over the latter's kitchen-sink-level inclinations. Robert Auletta is, of course, just the latest in a long line of playwrights who have updated the legend; Giraudaux's 1937 "Electra" is a much more sophisticated attempt, as is O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra."

Swiss director Francois Rochaix is best known in the U.S. as the director of the Seattle Opera's complete "Ring," but he and set designer Robert Dahlstrom have previously mounted productions of "The Oresteia" internationally. In creating this new version with American playwright Auletta and dramaturg Monika Gay, the goal was "to update the language and image pattern of the Greek without violating the structure or intent of the Aeschylean original."

How well they've succeeded is questionable; too many of the updatings draw attention to themselves rather than serve the trilogy. Helen of Troy is referred to as "more beautiful than any movie star." The Watchman tells us he's freezing his balls off. Clytaemnestra hurls out obscenities; Aegisthus refers to the Chorus as "miserable shits." All of which have a flat, unresonant drabness that undercuts the scenes in which Auletta captures Aeschylus' glorious imagery.

The more simply the trilogy is produced, the more powerful it is. But Rochaix clutters it with extraneous froufrou, including a prologue during which the Chorus of Old Men roam the audience singly summing up the events leading to "The Oresteia," thereby creating a veritable, and irritating, Tower of Babel.

Most of the acting isn't up to the play, the strongest performances coming from those who have been with this company the longest: Alvin Epstein and Jeremy Geidt. Epstein has the necessary vocal and histrionic stature and gives one of his finest performances in years as the Leader of the Chorus of Old Men. Geidt doesn't have such a meaty role, but he has an apt earthy quality as the Watchman , and in a nod to ancient Greek all-male casting is endearing as the old nurse Cilissa, looking for all the world like Dame Sybil Thorndike.

The third good performance is that of Benjamin Evett as the Herald in "Agamemnon." He delivers the retelling of losses at sea during the Trojan War with evocative beauty. Evett is also a hoot of a Hermes in little more than underwear and a long blond wig.

The anti-actor costumes are an all-too-perfect example of mixed-period thrift shop dressing. There's no way for Charles Levin to be an Agamemnon given his costume -- MacArthur jacket, Greek tunic, gold brow-wreath -- or Thomas Derrah, who enters on a motorbike (shades of Cocteau's "Orphee"), to be anything other than a wimpy Orestes in a baggy white tropical suit.

Clytaemnestra (a valiant Randy Danson) is saddled with revealing '50s evening gowns that shriek Cecil B. DeMille. The Furies wear body stockings suggesting partial nudity. They look like hefty '20s Berlin chorus girls being played by well-brought-up college women who smoke and powder their noses.

This latter lark is in "The Eumenides," the final play, which Rochaix has directed with some historical validity as a comic coda in which the gods are spoofed sky high. "The Eumenides" isn't without its built-in humor, and it steadfastly emerges with its innate greatness intact.

A basic set of Agamemnon's white palace upon a marble-floored stage is used for all three plays, though important changes are wrought for each. In "The Libation Bearers," part of the front of the stage becomes Agamemnon's grave, a macabre sandbox in which the Chorus, Orestes and Electra romp and stomp. In front of the stage is a table around which the Chorus of Old Men in "Agamemnon" sometimes sits like a group of elders. It's toppled on its side for "The Libation Bearers," righted again for "The Eumenides."

The set has its moments, one of the most vivid being the scene in which the ghost of Clytaemnestra roams the corridor on the upper level of the palace, her head appearing and disappearing behind five windows. But again we're fed that no-period/all-periods look. It's long since outworn its welcome.

Set, Robert Dahlstrom; costumes, Catherine Zuber; lighting, Mimi Jordan Sherin; music, Jan Garbarek; sound, Christopher Walker; stage managers, C. A. Clark, Lori Lundquist; dramaturg, Monika Gay. Artistic director, Robert Brustein; managing director, Robert J. Orchard; associate artistic director, Ron Daniels. "Agamemnon" opened, reviewed Nov. 30, 1994; "The Libation Bearers" and "The Eumenides" opened, reviewed Dec. 4, 1994. Running time: "Agamemnon," 1 HOUR, 45 MIN.; "The Libation Bearers" and "The Eumenides," 2 HOURS, 45 MIN.
 

With: Remo Airaldi, Starla Benford, Jessalyn Gilsig, Granville Hatcher, Teresa Y. Hegji, Tom Hughes, Sherri Lee, Karen Phillips, Natacha Roi, Chandler Vinton.