THEATRE REVIEWS

Despite being thousands of years old, the plays of Euripides still have a lot of relevance today, particularly in the light of the war in Iraq. His play "Hecuba" is set in Troy, a country that has been unfairly invaded and defeated by foreign coalition forces. The country has been ransacked and its fate is entirely in the hands of this coalition of foreign invaders. Sound familiar?

The play can be a little incomprehensible for anyone unfamiliar with Greek myths, as it was written for an audience who were familiar with the story of the Trojan War. This is a brief over-view: Hecuba was the Queen of Troy, who had many children with her husband King Priam. Her son Paris caused the Trojan War by abducting Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon decided they must get Helen back, so formed a coalition army from all the Greek city-states and set sail to invade Troy. After a long war (featuring many familiar heroes like Achilles and Hector) Troy was defeated and all its men killed, leaving just Hecuba and a chorus of Trojan women.

This is where the play begins. Hecuba and the Chorus are all prisoners of war. The occupying Greek forces tell Hecuba that they wish to leave Troy and sail back to Greece, but cannot as the ghost of Achilles is haunting their fleet. They must sacrifice her daughter, Polyxena to appease his ghost if they are to be able to set sail. On top of this horror, Hecuba discovers that her youngest son Polydorus, who she evacuated from the royal household for his safety, has been murdered by his host Polymestor. The play follows Hecuba as she tries to save her daughter and avenge her son.

Es Devlin has designed a very impressive set. It consists of a huge circular stone building, possibly a temple. It is made up of two curved walls that can revolve so that the exterior and interior of the building can be shown. Most of the action occurs in the interior of the building, where Hecuba waits with the Chorus. Piles of rubble are cast across the stage, reminding the audience that the setting is a war-zone. Devlin also designed the costumes. All the Trojan women wear robes in dark blue or green. These robes are embroidered in a faintly Eastern style and all the women wear headscarves, so their appearance is reminiscent of the women one sees on news reports from Iraq or Palestine.

The most significant feature of this production is the director's (Laurence Boswell) decision to have the Chorus actually singing nearly all of their lines to music, written by Mick Sands. This works in places, as the chorus consists of twelve women, and having a large group of people singing together can be very powerful. Making them sing throughout the play was a very bad idea however, and for a variety of reasons. A lot of the chorus members were concentrating so hard on singing, that they ceased to project any of their characters' emotions. Only a few chorus members knew that they still had to act and use their facial expressions while singing - to look troubled while singing of tragic events or to smile while singing of happier times. The majority of them looked rather expressionless as they sang about their country's destruction. The music itself wasn't even particularly interesting to listen to, as it was written in a very understated way, like a film score. And even when the music is understated, when words are put to music, one does tend to listen to the tune more than to what is actually being said. This makes an already rather complicated story even harder to follow.

In typical RSC style, the production is also let down by some bad acting. In this production, the main offender is Darrel D'Silva, who doubles up as Odysseus and Polymestor. As Odysseus, D'Silva puts on what seems to be a very bad Texan accent. If this is meant to make the audience draw parallels between Odysseus (who is a cruel manipulator in this play) and George W. Bush, then it is a very crass attempt. As Polymestor he is a roaring old ham, which gets very tedious as Polymestor has most of the lines in the last part of the play, making it drag even further.

Although D'Silva is very mediocre, Vanessa Redgrave is excellent as Hecuba, raging against the injustice of the Greeks. On hearing what the Greeks intend for her daughter, she exclaims, "Democracy demands a sacrifice.". One cannot help but be reminded of Redgrave's own very left-wing leanings, she seems perfect for Hecuba. It is also refreshing to see an older woman take centre stage in a play for once, proving to younger audience members that you can still have fire in your belly past the age of sixty.

Alan Dobie also deserves a mention as the Greek messenger Talthybius, who comes on to tell Hecuba of Polyxena's death. He doesn't stride about the stage or shout and scream like many RSC ham actors. Instead, describes his story in a gentle voice, his face showing that he is reliving these events as he tells them. It is only a small role, but he delivers his speech beautifully.

Redgrave's and Dobie's performances sadly cannot redeem this rather misguided and dull production however. © RW

“Hecuba” is at the Albery theatre London on the 1st April to the 7th May, 2005.

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