Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Awaiting Shakespeare Theater's "The Persians"
I would make a lousy theater critic. I don't like to publicly criticize a show, though I'm happy to praise something worthwhile. But an evening at the PWYC version of "The Persians" recently was something to avoid. The play, by Aeschylus, is one of the oldest surviving plays in the Western world, and is a classic anti-war play, focusing on the suffering of the Persians, defeated by the Greeks in a war initiated by the arrogant Persian prince, Xerses. The play, like so many of the best, is based on history. The playwright could afford to be generous to the Persians--he was Greek, after all, and victors can be generous.
Unfortunately, the version I saw [by the Scena Theatre] in the GALA Tivoli Theater was heavy-handed propaganda. Even if you strongly opposed the war in Iraq, you would find your nose rubbed a bit raw. The acting is strong and the scenery interesting--oil pipelines, a puddle of oil that people kept walking through, and a real Greek chorus that shrieks, interrupting my dozing. The references to TV were grating, not integrated into the beautiful poetic text.
But the Shakespeare Co. is scheduled to do "The Persians" next year, so no need to go out of your way for this version. It was wonderful to meet old friends there, brave "Pay What You Can" souls from the legal world, and a special thrill to put a face onto Gary Meeker and his partner Paul (alias Pablo), whose theatrical e-mails are a lot more dramatic than this production was.
Meanwhile, a New York company, new to me, called "Waterwell" is doing the play in New York City at the Perry Street Theater. New York Times critic Miriam Horn wrote, "It's implausibly funny and entertaining as promised by its subtitled, 'a comedy about war with five songs,' alive enough to surprise even the performers themselves." Frustratingly, the review doesn't give the run dates of the performance (this might be an editing error). The rest of her review, which ran July 18 and is entitled, "An Aeschylus Antiwar Play Adapted in Reality TV Style," is free online for a week or so, available at: http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/theater/reviews/18pers.html?
Unfortunately, the version I saw [by the Scena Theatre] in the GALA Tivoli Theater was heavy-handed propaganda. Even if you strongly opposed the war in Iraq, you would find your nose rubbed a bit raw. The acting is strong and the scenery interesting--oil pipelines, a puddle of oil that people kept walking through, and a real Greek chorus that shrieks, interrupting my dozing. The references to TV were grating, not integrated into the beautiful poetic text.
But the Shakespeare Co. is scheduled to do "The Persians" next year, so no need to go out of your way for this version. It was wonderful to meet old friends there, brave "Pay What You Can" souls from the legal world, and a special thrill to put a face onto Gary Meeker and his partner Paul (alias Pablo), whose theatrical e-mails are a lot more dramatic than this production was.
Meanwhile, a New York company, new to me, called "Waterwell" is doing the play in New York City at the Perry Street Theater. New York Times critic Miriam Horn wrote, "It's implausibly funny and entertaining as promised by its subtitled, 'a comedy about war with five songs,' alive enough to surprise even the performers themselves." Frustratingly, the review doesn't give the run dates of the performance (this might be an editing error). The rest of her review, which ran July 18 and is entitled, "An Aeschylus Antiwar Play Adapted in Reality TV Style," is free online for a week or so, available at: http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/theater/reviews/18pers.html?
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Love the blog so I hate to point out the mistakes but I think it was Scena that produced "The Persians" and not GALA. It is the Shakespeare Theatre that will be doing the Persians next and not Washington Shakespeare Company.
# posted by 
: 10:50 AM
: 10:50 AM
Thank you, Anonymous! You are absolutely right. (Reason #425 why I will never be a theater critic). No, this was not an intentional error, the way that some grocers intentionally misspell things ("Apple's 25 sense a pound") and then when people come into the store to complain, they usually buy something.
I do think the confusion between the Shakespeare Co. in Virginia and the Shakespeare Theater here in DC gets tiresome. But perhaps few others have this problem, and I'd rather have too many confusing Shakespearean stages than too few.
To make it up to the Scena Theatre, which was performing in GALA's space, here's the rest of their 2005 season, which looks very interesting:
Kakfa--The Trial, Sept. 10-Oct. 16, 2005
Sartre--No Exit, Oct. 15-Nov. 30, 2005
Sorry for my mistakes, and thanks for the corrections. Much appreciated.
I do think the confusion between the Shakespeare Co. in Virginia and the Shakespeare Theater here in DC gets tiresome. But perhaps few others have this problem, and I'd rather have too many confusing Shakespearean stages than too few.
To make it up to the Scena Theatre, which was performing in GALA's space, here's the rest of their 2005 season, which looks very interesting:
Kakfa--The Trial, Sept. 10-Oct. 16, 2005
Sartre--No Exit, Oct. 15-Nov. 30, 2005
Sorry for my mistakes, and thanks for the corrections. Much appreciated.
PS I do like the venue of the Gala Tivoli Theater. I hope they get some restaurants or coffee shops nearby soon.
I saw, "Real Women Have Curves" there, a few months ago, and it was a perfect mix of SPanish and English, wonderfully acted. The play was that of a young playwright...I hate to say this, but the movie of the same name, based on this play, is actually a bit better. It's a more mature work, with a more satisfying, realistic ending. But I was grateful to have the opportunity to see the play on which the movie was based. Can't wait to go to a play staged in Spanish to take advantage of the English supertitles! Is Washington becoming a real international city, or what? (no need to answer that yet...)
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I saw, "Real Women Have Curves" there, a few months ago, and it was a perfect mix of SPanish and English, wonderfully acted. The play was that of a young playwright...I hate to say this, but the movie of the same name, based on this play, is actually a bit better. It's a more mature work, with a more satisfying, realistic ending. But I was grateful to have the opportunity to see the play on which the movie was based. Can't wait to go to a play staged in Spanish to take advantage of the English supertitles! Is Washington becoming a real international city, or what? (no need to answer that yet...)
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