By Benedict Hardie, adapted from Sophocles
The Hayloft Project
Studio
246A Brunswick, May 5 to 19, 2012
Reviewed by: Kate
Herbert on May 7, 2012
Stars: ***1/2
Naomi Rukavina & Brian Lipson in The Seizure
ODYSSEUS (Brian
Lipson) tells us that this story of Philoctetes is the bit before the bit
that we know about the Trojan War, and that the outcome of this episode won the
war for the Greeks.
This hayloft
production, written and directed by Benedict Hardie, is an intimate,
unsentimental and uncluttered retelling of Sophocles’ Ancient Greek play about
Philoctetes, who was abandoned by Odysseus for ten, harrowing years on the
island of Lemnos.
The story,
characters and relationships unfold simply and clearly, through contemporary language,
narration, stillness and an intensity of style.
Brian Lipson, with
his warm vocal tones and skilful performance, is compelling as Odysseus,
combining gravitas and dignity with wit and playfulness, to become the
highlight of the production.
Naomi Rukavina gives
a moral core to the story as the stalwart soldier, Neoptolemus, son of
Achilles, who is sent to rescue Philoctetes.
Christopher Brown’s
Philoctetes is eccentric, on the edge of madness after his isolation with only
a crow as companion (HaiHa Le) and plagued by seizures caused by his infected
leg wound.
The play and the
myth challenge current issues such as the price of war, our willingness to
accept casualties and collateral human losses, our loyalty to the fallen and
value of one life in a broader conflict.
The plays of
Sophocles and other Ancient Greeks never lose their currency.
By Kate Herbert
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