Writers: Laura Swift and Russell Bender
Director: Russell Bender
In a workaday stripped-pine office, a group of scholars attempt the restoration of ancient texts, teasing meaning from the partial words on fragments of papyrus. They have unearthed a few pages of what may, just may, be a lost play by the last great Greek tragedian Euripides. One of them manages to decode an incantation to the muses, and then Bam! one of the muses manifests herself out of a filing cabinet. She learns English in record time and proceeds to prod and encourage and re-direct the company in a staging of the play.
The company treads a fine line between serious, solemn, and silly. They use shadow-work, animation, incantation, and surprise appearances from various items of office furniture to the accompaniment of some interesting operatic singing by the muse, played by Anne Marie Piazza. The story is told, retold, garbled, re-interpreted and misinterpreted because there are lots of bits missing. They sport classical Greek robes over office wear, perform highly stylised choric scenes and knockabout episodes from soap operas interchangeably, and keep the audience guessing with a tonal juggling act that renders it hard to pre-judge the direction the narrative will take.
Anne Marie Piazza takes most of the acting honours. From the moment she enters to the moment the play finishes, she dominates proceedings. She sings, she climbs on desks, she nips in and out of cupboards. She sometimes finds someone who hears her, but mostly they seem not to notice her presence, as she manoeuvres them into a reasonably faithful interpretation of the lost tragedy. She is the only actor to fully commit to the variant tone of the piece – from farce to formality, by way of naturalistic intra-office squabbling over misplaced papers. Piazza has a mercurial quality which makes the transitions work, while the other cast members are more earthbound. That is maybe a directorial intention, to contrast the semi-divine muse with a bunch of plodding mortals, but it does mean Piazza provides most of the energy.
The concept behind the play is intriguing and the shadow work, the lighting effects, the production of an endless supply of props and furniture from surprising places all looks very promising. The plot gets a bit laboured and repetitive, and the performances are rather too grounded for the magical nature of the piece. It also slightly outstays its welcome at an interval-avoiding two hours. There is, though, a brave commitment to experiment, less in the script than in the staging. The cupboard cornucopia is a great stage device, and the quest for a different way to get on stage is fascinating.
Runs until 6 May 2023
