Theatre
Thebans
Brian Cox Studio, Glasgow
Marianne Gunn
Four stars
"Cheery stuff," winked Liz Lochhead, as the dying wails of Ancient Greek tragedy faded and the house lights came up. The Scots Makar and Scottish Youth Theatre patron was in the audience for this unabridged performance of her Scots-inflected play cycle, which tells the generational stories of the Kingdom of Thebes. The young people involved, both in a performance and production capacity, have just completed an intensive three-week summer course and what they have produced within that timeframe is impressive (especially the movement and vocal work of the traditional Greek Chorus).
Broken down into three manageable sections, the behemoth begins with the oft-quoted and rarely understood morality tale of Oedipus. As the cursed King, Allan Othieno was suitably ravaged by the end and portrayed a believably passionate attraction with his wife/mother Jokasta (a fine performance by Thais Ramdani, further enhanced by designer Kenny Miller's resplendent corseted costuming). Julia Vidal as blind seer Tiresias was also worthy of note, creating an aura of foreboding, and styled a la Lady Gaga.
The fraternal tragedy of Polyneikes and Eteokles was fraught with the tensions of war and troubled familial loyalty. Othieno was double cast as son Polyneikes and, although it offered an opportunity for him to show a greater range, it would perhaps have been more in-keeping to give someone else a crack at the whip. As Eteokles, Lewis Petrie added just a sprinkling of camp and played it petulant much like the young pretenders in Game of Thrones.
Director Mary McCluskey's pinnacle piece was with the story of Antigone (Caitlin Morris). Staying very true to the Sophocles original, there was scant humour (from guard Lorna Murray) and pathos aplenty as gentle Ismene (Genevieve Jagger) was left gathering her handfuls of dust. An ambitiously fierce production, in content, scope and execution.
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