The Wykehamist
consider‘ translation’ to include major creative liberties such as dividing the Chorus and characterising each member, of course. Along with inventive costuming, dynamic staging and BKP’ s musical settings for the Chorus’ refrains, the production made the unfamiliar insertion of a chorus more palatable for our modern audience, all whilst retaining its distinct role. The play’ s soundtrack too was worthy of note; AGMR succeeded in capturing the play’ s mystique, conjuring an almost dream-like atmosphere— though that might just be exam fatigue getting to me. In short, NGK’ s production steered well clear of the common pitfall of lacking variety. With Archie Currie( H, 22-) at the helm, the Chorus— Justin Cheng( B, 22-), Nikheel Dutta( A, 22-), Rory Dobson( Coll:, 22-) and Nye Bayley( Coll:, 22-)— held the audience’ s attention successfully for vast tranches of the play with what could have otherwise easily been rather dry dialogue.
In terms of actors proper— the Chorus is not considered part of this, if I am informed correctly— Maya Evdokimova( H, 24-) portrayed with much emotional force the aggrieved Queen Atossa. Awaiting restlessly for her son, king Xerxes, to return, Atossa prophesies his defeat in a dream— Maya’ s haunted cries and whispers captured such ghastly anguish well. News of Persian defeat arrives as a messenger— Toby Burrell( H, 22-)— bursting into the auditorium from the mezzanine; such an entry synthesises the immersive experience of Greek drama, where the stage would come out into the audience. Toby’ s performance was excellent. His commanding stage presence made vivid the descriptions of the Persians’ defeat, whilst clear diction and a controlled tone conveyed the gravity of the situation. The role of Darius, meanwhile, former king and father of Xerxes, much befit the distinguished Arun Sharma( Coll:, 21-). His ghostly manifestation was staged beautifully with candles, and combined with Arun’ s Shakespearean manner of acting, one could not help but recall Macbeth’ s lamentations on the futility of human efforts—‘ Out, out brief candle!’— perhaps especially apt in such a context of condemning divine retribution. We were shown the ease with which human life is ended as the candles were extinguished one by one— though, somewhat bathetically, switching off electrical candles proved not so easy after all.
Indeed, this review would be considered inept if it did not mention the play’ s conclusion. Into the continual lamentations of the Chorus, staggered abruptly the ragged, dishevelled cause of their miseries— you guessed it, enter Edwin Humphreys( Coll:, 24-) as the personification of hubris. The disgraced figure of Xerxes, after a brief spell lying on the floor, occupied the Damoclean throne which had dominated the otherwise barren set since the beginning of the play. Again, NGK’ s staging proved itself worthy as the chorus stepped onto the throne’ s platform and towered over seated Darius, showing his authority lost.
Overall, I would like to congratulate NGK and the cast for pulling off a fantastic production of such challenging but rewarding material— a refreshing production of a refreshingly different play.
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