Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Four stars
It begins with the performers running through the auditorium before lining up onstage as actor Omar Ebrahim introduces a knowing lesson in theatrical economics delivered by real live MSP Willie Rennie. As an opening gambit drawn from ancient Greek civic ritual it is as inspired and as relevant as everything that follows in this co-production between the Lyceum and Actors Touring Company.
In the women we can recognise twenty-first century refugees fleeing oppressive misogynist regimes, and in the caution of the Wise Women we see a conformist resistance to other cultures. With Ebrahim, Oscar Batterham as the King and Gemma May as the Chorus Leader the only three professional actors onstage alongside more than fifty volunteers, co-ordinating and navigating such a throng is a mammoth feat in itself. For composer John Browne's massed chorales to be delivered with such choreographed fire as they are is a captivating show of strength. Accompanied by two musicians, these incantations become a primitive form of rap that sees the cast rise up as independent women, stepping out into the world as equals at last.
Four stars
“How did it work, this thing called
democracy?” one of the multitude of young women onstage asks their
old father Danaus as he returns from arguing the case for this swathe
of Egyptian asylum seekers in search of sanctuary in Argos. Given
that the first part of Aeschylus' now largely lost Danaid trilogy is
two and a half thousand years old, this is quite a question in David
Greig's new version, brought to the stage for this flagship
production of Greig's new tenure as the Lyceum's artistic director by
Ramin Gray.
It begins with the performers running through the auditorium before lining up onstage as actor Omar Ebrahim introduces a knowing lesson in theatrical economics delivered by real live MSP Willie Rennie. As an opening gambit drawn from ancient Greek civic ritual it is as inspired and as relevant as everything that follows in this co-production between the Lyceum and Actors Touring Company.
In the women we can recognise twenty-first century refugees fleeing oppressive misogynist regimes, and in the caution of the Wise Women we see a conformist resistance to other cultures. With Ebrahim, Oscar Batterham as the King and Gemma May as the Chorus Leader the only three professional actors onstage alongside more than fifty volunteers, co-ordinating and navigating such a throng is a mammoth feat in itself. For composer John Browne's massed chorales to be delivered with such choreographed fire as they are is a captivating show of strength. Accompanied by two musicians, these incantations become a primitive form of rap that sees the cast rise up as independent women, stepping out into the world as equals at last.
The Herald, October 5th 2016
ends
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