A Dish Served Cold - in the House of Atreus
Ever seen those picture menus you get in some Chinese restaurants to make things easier? Just so, if you find it hard to get your head round the finer details of your average Greek Tragedy you can be pretty sure you'll see: Lust, War, Seduction; Betrayal, Blood, Rape...you get the picture. Even without any prior knowledge of the original play by Aeschylus, you'd be in no doubt it begins with unspeakable horror, superbly conveyed by Henry Touray, in the powerful opening scene of Windmill Young Actors presentation of Steven Berkoff's 'Agamemnon'. Forget knives & being 'carved up' in the traditional sense; here revenge is served in spoonfuls: a sorry mess of cruelty Atreus cooks up for the Thyestes, who took his wife as his 'bit on the side'. Welcome to the ancient Greek world of dog-eat-dog; insatiable sexual appetite & the lust for Revenge. The cast play on the Kali motif to great effect: spoons raised.....For Starters....
Take 2 children, chop, slice, batter & boil. then serve in a bowl to daddy. This seemed to satisfy the cook, Atreus's need for revenge, but exacted a generational curse for his own family's bloodline. Hardly surprising, sick things like that don't go down easily; hard to stomach, it sticks in one's craw: we see Thyestes fishing out of his mouth 'the little nail with the moon still rising...' Cue: ptsd, ancient-Greek-style: everything heightened; flashbacks; bitter reflux. The trouble is - no-one ever seems satisfied with what's on their own plate; they're greedy for what the other man has, a curse in itself, but when that kind of hunger is satisfied by poaching, i.e. trespassing on someone else's estate, helping yourself to their 'bird' - 'fair game' - you're asking for trouble. The Greeks & Stephen Berkoff 'do' trouble really well: graphic. The cast delivered: a visceral take-out. Main Course: Dish of the day
In the 60s a woman might be described as 'a real dish' - probably wasn't much different back in the time of - ever! Helen is posh totty. Paeans of praise in her favour provided much needed light relief - sweet; a little something whipped up & served on a bed of supporting admirers with an ample garnish of long tresses & adulation (Tournay again - falsetto!). Just her name is enough to create a stir. Helen/Zoe holds the pose & plays hot pin-up. unattainable, yet, ahem, filched. Agamemnon's mission - to steal her back: woman as prized commodity as usual. each scene flows smoothly on.You say tomatoes....
Sorbet-moments; sweet contrasts. Champagne bubbles - or fizzy cava. There'll always be cheap knock-offs: lookey-likey almost but-not-quite-the-real-deal, but if you need to fill the gap that money or power can't supply... Helen's 'Vogue' & is supported, literally, on the backs of her people (cast members as chaise-longue); Clytemnestra's more 'Hallo! Magazine'. More, cut-price, off-the-peg, a little bit past her sell-by date, if Agamemnon's anything to go by. Left for 10 years? Hmmm - that doesn't usually go down well. Desire can't be switched off; unfortunately the replacement has his own agenda, that old chesnut: revenge. Aegisthus steps in when Agamemnon steps out. Who he? Well, he was the son of Thyestes, you know, the guy made to eat his own babies served up by Clytemnestra's husband. Ooops! Aegisthus's interest is not just in pussy, but making of her a willing cat's paw - for his own ends. A bad case of wind
Caraway seeds are the traditional way; the stuff baby's gripe water is made of; why they're added when cooking cabbage. But, different courses for Trojan horses, Agamemnon much preferred sacrificing his daughter to the Goddess Artemis to get the right kind of wind for his ships. Ambition, victory, power, military gain at any price. Bitter reflux. Again. Making a meal of it: War
Every day - a battle: between the sexes; between territories; opposing gains/losses yada yada. Everyone dressed for battle as a matter of course, in combats/ battle fatigues, emphasis on fatigue. The War Correspondent / Greek Chorus, George Jasper Kelly, did a great job as Shakespearean style clown-commentator: imagine Lee Evens giving a blow by blow account of proceedings on the battle field. Indeed. The Bill: Final Reckoning
The cost of it all - human lives lost. Dignity lost. Short-term gains. Lost hope. What actually is worth fighting for when it comes down to it? Steven Berkoff has said he wrote this play to 'exorcise certain demons struggling within me to escape.' Those demons might be the curse of cultural programming passed down from generation to generation, or the lust for greater power, prestige, respect. Sexual appetite, or the hunger for attention, affection, love that can't be fully satisfied. Left unchecked the result is a bloodbath. Who picks up the tab? Who pays the price. Gratuities aren't enough. Someone must pay. Tall order. Great service!Satisfaction guaranteed
Truth is things can be very simple if you really boil it down. Head Chef Tanushka Marah should feel rightly proud of the production her so solid crew presented at Brighton Fringe Festival 2017. Not the most appetising of subjects to tackle & surely difficult to prepare, but served with great relish. So much was achieved with the most minimal props: white sheet; long red cloth & not much else: very neatly wrapping up Iphegenia's being bound by her father's trade-off with deft use of said sheet. Excellent use of music, mime, lighting & evident passion: Clytemnestra's tears - real, not fake. The death of Cassandra at the end was a tour de force of staging: suitably shocking & dramatic. I was happy to learn the cast were so hyped with the play they're reading Steven Berkoff's other works in their own time. All aged between 17-21 they attend regular after-school drama classes as part of Windmill Young Actors; Morwenna since the age of 8. A good team: all highly talented & dedicated. I look forward to anything else they might do in future. 
Look out for:
Helen of Troy: Zoe Alexander
Agamemnon: Jonny Davidson
Chorus: Sarah Elliott
Herald: George Jasper Kelly
Iphegenia: Phoebe Owen
Cassandra: Cerys Salkeld-Green
Clytemnestra: Morwenna Silver
Aegisthus: Henry Touray
and: Tanushka Marah
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