Welcome to Thebes
Welcome to Thebes!
@United Players has offered another little crown jewel with their production of Welcome to Thebes - by Moira Buffini, directed by Brian Parkinson.
Inspired by the Greek tragedy set in Thebes of mythical 7th century BC, it is also set in the very real truth and reconciliation period of post civil war Liberia after 2003.
The play follows the plot of Antigone, the third in the trilogy of the tragedy of Oedipus by Sophocles, and flavoured with a few other elements of Classical Greek theatre, most notably Lysistrata of Aristophanes where the women stop the Pelopenesian war .. but I digress just like the play does. You see this play is not an exact retelling of Antigone; for one thing it has a happy ending. The Greek play is used as one of parallels tracks combined withmodern failed state narratives. Greek Tragedies can be very tedious to watch, even more so than Shakespearean ( yes I said it) because culturally we have moved to a different type of story telling in the last century, so much so that seeing remounts of these old plays with huge casts that come in and out seemingly randomly to do long soliloquies or tell important plot points in flashbacks and in prose, is very hard to sit through when you know there is a more linear way that film ( our modern equivalent of the public medium) can tell the story in a more pleasant way; I was delighted to see how the writer used the old play as a base to build a contemporary theatre experience on. I have to admit, this type of revisionist theatre - without being pastiche - is my favourite theatre going experience, so I was hooked!
Welcome to Thebes Indeed!
The characters are all drawn from the tragedy of Oedipus with all the death and destruction and gore of that pre-censure play but the plot unfolds in a uniquely modern state. In fact the story tells the establishment of democratic government in Liberia and the first female African president: Janet Johnson Bryant. She and a group of women forced their government into peace talks by literally preventing them from exiting the peace conference by blocking the doors. It was a peace forced onto a failed state by women, hence the strong female roles which ere not present in the Greek tragedy. The play starts after the women have taken power of "Thebes" and are in the process of rebuilding a modern democratic state. This was an important part of the history of Africa, one that may sound a little too familiar to us now, but it is worth retelling.
Welcome Back to Thebes!
The second act of this 2:30 play is absolutely riveting how the plots unfold and the characters evolve to something so far from Antigone which explains why the title couldn't mention Sophocles justly. The second half is where the play really hits you with it's OneTwo punch: The performances!
I can't rave enough about the consistently high level of acting this incredibly diverse cast put out there. I was at the edge of my seats (not just because of those uncomfortable seats) the whole hour as the actors turned on the heat and the play took on a narrative of guilt and redemption.
The play follows the plot of Antigone, the third in the trilogy of the tragedy of Oedipus by Sophocles, and flavoured with a few other elements of Classical Greek theatre, most notably Lysistrata of Aristophanes where the women stop the Pelopenesian war .. but I digress just like the play does. You see this play is not an exact retelling of Antigone; for one thing it has a happy ending. The Greek play is used as one of parallels tracks combined withmodern failed state narratives. Greek Tragedies can be very tedious to watch, even more so than Shakespearean ( yes I said it) because culturally we have moved to a different type of story telling in the last century, so much so that seeing remounts of these old plays with huge casts that come in and out seemingly randomly to do long soliloquies or tell important plot points in flashbacks and in prose, is very hard to sit through when you know there is a more linear way that film ( our modern equivalent of the public medium) can tell the story in a more pleasant way; I was delighted to see how the writer used the old play as a base to build a contemporary theatre experience on. I have to admit, this type of revisionist theatre - without being pastiche - is my favourite theatre going experience, so I was hooked!
Welcome to Thebes Indeed!
The characters are all drawn from the tragedy of Oedipus with all the death and destruction and gore of that pre-censure play but the plot unfolds in a uniquely modern state. In fact the story tells the establishment of democratic government in Liberia and the first female African president: Janet Johnson Bryant. She and a group of women forced their government into peace talks by literally preventing them from exiting the peace conference by blocking the doors. It was a peace forced onto a failed state by women, hence the strong female roles which ere not present in the Greek tragedy. The play starts after the women have taken power of "Thebes" and are in the process of rebuilding a modern democratic state. This was an important part of the history of Africa, one that may sound a little too familiar to us now, but it is worth retelling.
Welcome Back to Thebes!
The second act of this 2:30 play is absolutely riveting how the plots unfold and the characters evolve to something so far from Antigone which explains why the title couldn't mention Sophocles justly. The second half is where the play really hits you with it's OneTwo punch: The performances!
I can't rave enough about the consistently high level of acting this incredibly diverse cast put out there. I was at the edge of my seats (not just because of those uncomfortable seats) the whole hour as the actors turned on the heat and the play took on a narrative of guilt and redemption.
Thebes is Stellar!
The performances were phenomenal!!! it seems everyone was at their "A" game and out to impress, which they did. It helps that the female characters were written with such strength - despite being archetypes. There were over 20 actors in this play and each of them played a crucial role it seemed. It is too hard to pick favourites here - truly they all shined that night. I will mention how well MariaLuisa Alvarez carried the whole play by being in almost every scene as did Jordon Navratil as Theseus in the second act, Rema Kibayi who plays a blind seer, Marion Landers who transforms into a fire breather and Kurtis Maguire plays the crazed prince to manic perfection. the convoluted nature of the amalgamated play relies so much on the actors to pull it off, and these performers pulled it off: they all deserved a standing ovation.
Welcome to Thebes runs till April 19
posted by Viken's word @ 12:37 p.m.
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