Anna Burnside reviews a production that portrays a minor chapter of the Trojan War saga through 'an assault on the senses'.
The Lyceum, a pretty Victorian theatre, has been stripped back to its raw state. On the warehousey stage stand a mixed range of bodies in a range of black slutwear. It looks as if Calvin Klein is shooting a perfume advert in a Berlin sex club.
The bombastic, clanging music has a similar energy.
Penthesilea starts with a lot of exposition, delivered in Dutch with lumpy translations displayed above. She was a minor character in Greek mythology, so the non-classicists in the audience need a lot of war strategy to give us the context required.
This is presented by a stern woman in a satin slip dress and ferocious boots in a way that suggests we should sit up straight and pay attention.
The TL;DR is that Penthesilea, the warrior woman leader of the Amazons, is about to enter the Trojan War at a crucial stage. Then she locks eyes with the warrior Achilles and falls in love at first sight. Slight problem - Amazon rules mean women can only have sex with men they have defeated in battle.
We get the jist of this via more heavy beats and a terrible cover version of Joy Division’s ‘She’s Lost Control’.
Being a Greek myth, it all ends extremely badly.
This is theatre as spectacle. There are tender moments - Penthesilea gently unties Achilles’ Harry Stylesesque chiffon blouse, later her handmaidens wipe gore off her body with a soft towel - but much of it is an assault on the senses. And not in a CK One way.
Penthesilea performs at the Royal Lyceum Theatre as part of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. It runs from August 3-6, 2024.
Photo by Jess Shurte.
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