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Michael Cox reviews 'a brilliantly theatrical and emotionally resonant' production.
The Royal Lyceum Theatre’s production of The Suppliant Women is impossibly loaded: it is the inaugural production of David Greig’s first season as artistic director and is a new staging of a classic text that could have been written this year due to its political themes.
The fact, then, that the production is a triumph makes it all the more impressive.
50 women present themselves to the Greek city-state of Argos as refugees; they are to be forced into marriages with their cousins and wish to claim asylum, not only from their Egyptian homeland but also from the prospect of unwanted matrimony. Can these foreign women be trusted? Are their claims justified? And what of the approaching Egyptian fleet, ready to recapture the women and declare war on those who dare stand in their way?
For a play that is over 2,000 years old, these are modern, pertinent questions being asked here; questions with no easy solution. Perhaps we in modern society see this conflict in a different light; this new adaptation does seem a little more cut and dry than Aeschylus’ original, and that audience would have certainly known the original tale. This is also just the first part of a trilogy: the other two parts, all but completely lost to time, take a much darker view of the women and the situation presented to Argos.
But David Greig’s new version of the text presents a satisfying whole—even if it does end on an ambiguous conclusion. The text here is lyrical, and the characters are richly drawn. This is a text that is refreshingly modern, and it is beautiful to listen to.
Director Ramin Gray’s production is equally beautiful to watch. It is a visual feast with gorgeous staging and choreography, and it contains flourishes such as waving banners and lit torches. It has three terrific performances: Omar Ebrahim as both Danaus (the women’s father) and the Egyptian Herald, Oscar Batterham as the commanding yet conflicted King of Argos and Gemma May as the passionate Chorus Leader.
It is the chorus that May leads which is this production’s most intriguing aspect. The sheer size is in itself impressive. However, it is made completely of local amateurs. Perhaps individually there are some who aren’t as focussed as others (dropped lines and missed timings), but the sense of an overall community far outweighs any weakness here and results in a much more powerful, richer symbol that comes across as both believable and humane.
The Suppliant Women is a brilliantly theatrical and emotionally resonant experience. It might mark an impressive beginning to Greig’s tenure, but it is a standout production on its own.
The Suppliant Women performs at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh until October 15, 2016.
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