If you appreciate theater excellence, catch Iphigenia at Aulis at 6th@Penn Theater, where Dr. Marianne McDonald's contemporary-English translation from Euripides is accessible, and this story comes through loud and clear under Douglas Lay's dynamic direction.
Agamemnon (Ruff Yeager), King of Greece, has agreed to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia (Michelle Cabinian), for good winds and the glory of sacking Troy. Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra (Robin Christ), suffers the agony of her daughter's potential murder at her husband's hands. Menelaus (Rhys Greene), King of Sparta, wants to retrieve his wayward Helen from Troy. To quote, McDonald, "Euripides wants us to see the absurdity of war along with its tragedy."
The setting is at Agamemnon's headquarters at the sea-shore, waves lapping at the rocks and sand. He has bid his wife to bring their daughter for a wedding to Achilles (Giancarlo Ruiz). He changes his mind and commands his servant (Jack Winans) to carry a note canceling the wedding. When it's intercepted by Menelaus, the tragedy begins.
The Chorus of Women (Judy Ho, Tatiana Holthaus, Dorothy Guthrie, and Sarah Knapp), unlike any other Greek chorus, actually sing much of their part. The chorus is a device to move on the plot and bridge scenes. The modernization of the play includes a messenger and her video cameraman (Melissa Hamilton and Anthony Hamm) who are covering the military.
Yeager, Greene, and Ruiz are every inch military men. They strut, they posture, they are the heroes of the time. Yeager, showing great range, plays an Agamemnon tortured by his decision. But it is in the hands of the Gods and the glory of sacking Troy. Ruiz's Achilles is the young Adonis, macho in every ripple of his muscles. Greene's Menelaus is arrogant, driven by his desire to again bed Helen. The three, with occasional help from others, depict the moral right for war.
Robin Christ brilliantly rides a roller coaster of emotion from a mother elated about the upcoming grand wedding to despairing over the planned death of her daughter.
Cabinian's Iphigenia works through a mix of emotions, from happiness to anguish to a feeling of being a heroine saving Greece. The irony of war, of course, is that it is the young and the innocent who suffer; this is Euripides' message.
Iphigenia at Aulis is very powerful, with a cast of some of the best talent in San Diego. The element of music adds a new and interesting, yet logical, interpretation of a Greek chorus. Vincent Sneddon's set is nicely complex yet allows room for the action as well as delightful hidden areas. Eusevio Cordoba's sound gives just the right feel to the production. Lighting designer Mitchell Simkovsky even gives us a star-lit sky.
