Writer: Evie Chandler
Directors: Evie Chandler and Kate Austin
Unsurprisingly Pasiphae has been one of Greek mythology’s least dramatised women and the Queen of Crete has often given way to her more famous daughters Ariadne and Phaedra who have commanded their own narratives as rejected and lustful women. But so was their mother and Fat Cow Productions want to return Pasiphae to the centre of her story with their new show Pasiphae: Mother of the Minotaur playing at the Etcetera Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe.
Haunted by a lustful dream about a rugged man with a bull’s head, Queen Pasiphae (Cecile Taylor) is considered mad by her husband Minos ( Lucy Miller) and daughter Ariadne (Daisy Dent). But soon in real life, Poseidon’s curse ensures she is drawn to an actual bull in a local field and becomes jealous of the heifers he mates with. Driven by an unquenchable desire. Pasiphae devises a plan, one that the Fates warn will lead to a terrible reckoning for her family.
Evie Chandler’s 50-minute play blends dramatised scenes with monologues to give Pasiphae agency in her own story and control over her bestial desires for which she is unrepentant. The show clearly expresses the Queen’s sexuality and determination as well as starting to think about the ways in which human decision-making dominates any sense of fate or inevitability in the story. There is also clearly a mental health crisis of a kind, fuelled by a poor relationship with her husband and daughter as well as monarchical loneliness and unfulfillment. And while Chandler doesn’t probe these causes of Pasiphae’s desires in sufficient depth, the character is strong-willed enough to make her own choices.
But the play muddles narrative ownership and direction at times, opening with the story being retold by the fates, an aloof group observing the whims and confusion of mortals that allows Chandler to add a sense of destiny to the story. At other times, Pasiphae takes control of the narrative herself in monologue form delivered to the audience, and she also speaks in the past tense about things that are acted out as she says them. This is mixed with dramatic sense between characters performed in the moment. It creates a tension and confusion in the play; who is in control of telling this story and at what point in Pasiphae’s life are these reflections being made?
There is also a tension between the sombre stylisation that Greek tragedy demands, with the actors dressed in period-appropriate costume, and the too-modern choice of vocabulary and phrasing that sometimes sit awkwardly together. Ariadne’s speech is particularly riddled with contemporary phrasing, such as “I’m not doing this” and “How do you not know this,” while one of the Fates/courtiers tells Pasiphae “That’s sick.” These are awkward choices that jar with the lyricism of Chandler’s writing when describing her heroine’s lustful feelings and the emotional landscape of the play.
There are some impressive staging techniques in this production including a bull puppet requiring the three Fate characters to operate it, a lumbering beast who stalks to stage, while several bull and heifer head pieces help to transform the actors during Pasiphae’s fantasy moments. But the play has some issues with its point of view to resolve before Pasiphae’s story will be as poignant as her children’s.
Runs until 13 August 2023
Camden Fringe runs until 27 August 2023
