Status Updates From The Greek Plays

The Persians is a powerful play. This is the first version I’ve read, so I’m not sure how many liberties the author’s taken with the original, but it’s certainly quite effective. Most interesting because I’ve recently read a history of the Greco-Persian wars, so I have a good grounding in the back story.

Lysistrata is, unsurprisingly, pretty low-brow. I think I’ll stick with the tragedies.

‘Helen’ is an odd play, even in the original version. It’s bleak somehow, playing with the revelation that the war has been fought for nothing. This version expands on that thought, makes Helen a victim of not just her beauty, but her expectations of what that means, of how she should be. Watching her slowly break free of that world is revelatory.

‘The Trojan Women’ is a harrowing play no matter how it’s retold. But this one was made for refugee women, for Serbs and Croats who fled from fallen cities. Their pain is here writ large; their own loss and fear and burning Troy.

‘Iphigenia and other daughters’ is raw, horrible, full of truth and darkness. Finally Chrysothemis has a voice, a role, between her power-bound mother and mad sister. And Iohigenia, sweet child, virgin statue. Beautiful.