John Hunt( Coll:, 23-) disappoints his lineage with an interest in the Classics
The Wykehamist
The Persians
John Hunt( Coll:, 23-) disappoints his lineage with an interest in the Classics
Remarking on the timelessness of Greek drama has always been a bit of a cliché— in some ways as timeless as the plays themselves. I hope therefore not to frustrate the reader when I say with conviction, albeit without originality, that to see the world’ s oldest intact play, The Persians by Aeschylus, staged in QEII this term, was a fresh delight. With that truism offloaded, I might also remark that, for their much remarked-upon timelessness, productions of said Greek plays possess too much timeliness. Appearing in drama festivals whenever its subject matter proves especially relevant— for instance, it was staged during each Gulf war, by Peter Sellars and Tony Randall respectively— The Persians has long been a play which captivates those who desire to see war differently. Framed through the lens not of the victorious but the defeated, it incredibly humanises Athens’ foes, the titular Persians.
Although not quite re-writing the narrative to the extent of, say, Wicked, The Persians focalises events through the eyes of the Persian court, encouraging empathy— if not sympathy— for an empire wallowing in incomprehensible defeat. It’ s a fresh perspective on conflict, to which I think the latest QEII production has delivered justice.
If you haven’ t guessed already, the pretext of the play is this: Xerxes, son of Darius the Great, mounts an enormous invasion of Greece by land and sea to succeed where his father, Darius, had not. Ultimately, though, his youthful hubris meets its nemesis at Salamis, where the Persians are crushed. The Persians is set in the royal court at Susa, where Atossa, dowager empress and wife of deceased Darius, awaits news of the invasion with the chorus comprising Persian nobles. Winning first place at Athen’ s Dionysia festival in 472 BC— JAT and EASL provided excellent pre-performance rundowns of the historical context— The Persians may be unique in age and perspective, but it is notoriously difficult to stage— not least because most of the play consists not of action, but of chorus dialogue, typical at the time but perhaps difficult for modern audiences to stomach. To direct a school production was the undertaking of one NGK, on whose excellent track record this latest production proves another embellishment.
Such life was brought to this performance that I consider even the safety announcement worthy of note, delivered in— I am told— flawless Ancient Greek by NGK himself. Mercifully, for both our comfort and safety, English translations of the fire protocol were held up on placards. Indeed, before this announcement, when Benjamin Shahsavanpour( Coll:, 24-) and Orlando Shivji( G, 24-) first burst onto the stage with a flurry of Ancient Greek, fear had gripped me as I questioned whether I had been misinformed and the entire play would be conducted in Greek. A worthy mode of production no doubt, but thankfully, not this one. As soon as the play proper began, read was not Aeschylus’ original Greek text but Ella McLaughlin’ s award-winning translation— if you
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