AGAMEMNON by Aeschylus, translated by Ted Hughes, directed by Michael Wighton (Theatre Cipher). At church hall of Christ the Saviour Cathedral (823 Manning). To June 5. $10-$20. theatrecipher.com. See Continuing. Rating: NNN
Theatre Cipher’s debut, a staging of Ted Hughes’s translation of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, offers some striking moments of theatre, even if the company is still exploring performance techniques and not fully unleashing all the play’s powerful resonance.[rssbreak]
The revenge-driven plot focuses on the title character, the king of Argos, who returns victorious from the Trojan War to his presumably adoring queen, Clytemnestra. In fact, she’s had a decade to brood about Agamemnon’s sacrifice of their daughter to get favourable winds to sail to Troy.
It’s not hard to guess that there’s more blood to be shed.
Director Michael Wighton’s three actors – Michelle Alexander, Carlos González-Vio and Laura Nordin – play not only the chorus, each with a distinct personality, but also alternate as the other characters.
It’s not surprising, then, that the chorus is at the centre of the action.
The exciting opening has González-Vio’s tired, angry Watchman literally bound by the Furies who inspire much of the action, while his pompous Aegisthus at the end of the play is literally a little man.
Alexander is best as the initially joyous Herald, bringing news of the Greek victory over the Trojans. Nordin is the most striking of the Clytemnestras (they all play her), her gestures and shuffling gait arising believably from the text, and her stalking, grunting Agamemnon suggestive of a hungry beast.
There’s lots of inventive work here, including shadow play, puppetry and a link between words and movement. It’s unfortunate, though, that the movement sometimes distracts us from the words, which are visceral and hard-hitting in Hughes’s translation.
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
