A striking and colourful set by Tom Bannerman conjures a Greek tavern on the hedonistic holiday resort of Mykonos.
Its owner, Agamemnon, modeled on the recently disgraced mayor of Mykonos, is depicted as a mammon-driven despot confined to a mechanised chair that is set in almost perpetual motion, like some manic pinball machine, cannoning and colliding, a loose cannon draped in Greek flag, symbolic of patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel.
A portrait of Angela Merkel depicting Artemis as our lady of perpetual succour, (Artemis was, among other Olympus portfolios, Greek goddess of virginity, so there’s a double whammy allusion or mixed mythological metaphor) instructs us that this modern adaptation of Euripides’ IPHIGENIA AT AULIS is all about the current financial crisis that is the curse of Greece and Cyprus.
Profligate greed and injured male pride is at the heart of the story where a Greek fleet are rendered impotent, routing a planned reclamation of Helen from her Troy boy, Paris. Trouble is that the production is also beset of the doldrums, becalmed when it should be storming.
The Greek chorus features a couple of T-topped, buxom barflies, Menelaus is reduced to an emasculated beach bum, and Achilles an air cav commando in search of a surf break. Iphigenia is presented as a doe-eyed ingénue, presaging her transformation into a deer on the sacrificial altar.
Designer turned director Antoinette Barbouttis opts for the declamatory style of classic Greek theatre, but does not drill her thesps in the discipline of stillness, while the syntax of Nicole Colantoni’s adaptation impedes clarity of oration.
The use of SHE’S LIKE THE WIND, the power ballad from DIRTY DANCING, as the play’s parting music cue is bizarre, a cute counterpoint of dramatic irony, perhaps…
An interesting concept, TRAPPED IN MYKONOS could be considered a case of Orestes development. To quote Cassius, “It’s all Greek to me.”
Gravas Productions presentation of TRAPPED IN MYKONOS, adapted by Nicole Colantoni from Euripides’ IPHIGENIA AT AULIS opened at the downstairs Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre on Thursday 4th April and runs until Saturday 13th April, 2013.
Tags: Sydney Stage Reviews- TRAPPED IN MYKONOS, Gravas Productions, Tom Bannerman, Antoinette Barbouttis, Nicole Colantoni, Sydney Arts Guide, Richard Cotter
