Jennifer Chung Klam

San Diego Arts

'Prometheus Bound' and 'Cyclops' at The Theatre Inc.

Theater debuts with Greek classics
By Jennifer Chung Klam
Posted on Tue, Nov 18th, 2008
Last updated Wed, Nov 19th, 2008

The opening of a new theater venue in San Diego, especially in this economy, is quite an accomplishment, and certainly cause for celebration. The good news is The Theatre Inc.’s new intimate black box space downtown is cozy and well appointed.

The not so good news is that its first offering, a double bill of Greek classics “Prometheus Bound” and “Cyclops” is, well, not so good.

In “Prometheus Bound,” the titular god suffers for his “absurd devotion to man.” He not only saved the humans from total annihilation, he also gave the lowly creatures gifts that they apparently did not deserve, such as fire, mathematics, literature, medicine, metallurgy, arts and crafts, the steam engine, the zipper, chapstick and post-it notes.

For these crimes, that tyrant of a god Zeus sentenced Prometheus to be chained to a rock and pestered daily by an eagle with an insatiable appetite for liver.

“Prometheus” begins promisingly, with a foursome of masked and hooded characters who bind the god for his everlasting punishment. Bearing candles in the darkness, they create a gloomy, sinister atmosphere. The lights come up, and Prometheus stands bloody and chained, with arms spread and a spike through his feet – an obvious reference to that other famous martyr.

It’s a striking stage picture – one of director Douglas Lay’s strengths. But “Prometheus” leans too heavily on these images, since there is little real action on stage. The drama largely consists of the telling and retelling of various pieces of Prometheus’ story, with a tangent into the tale of Io (a near hysterical Bianca Chapman as the unwilling lover of Zeus turned into a cow). And there are other problems: uneven acting, dippy costumes and simplistic video projections that play like Atari graphics to the Wii generation.

Brian Abraham has the tough job of playing the punished god while being restricted in his movement. He must convey feelings of betrayal, rage, pride, despair and resolve through mostly his voice and facial gestures. The torture looks genuine – imagine spending the duration of the play with an itchy nose and your arms shackled. Perhaps that’s why he’s wearing leather short shorts, in preparation for this interminable S&M session (the safe word is “prestidigitation”).

Melissa Hamilton, Vanessa B. Milton and Diana Sparta comprise the chorus, a trio of sea-nymphs in seafoam tutus and bathing caps who sympathize with Prometheus. The women do well with their coordinated movements and layered speech, but can be hard to understand when they speak together.

Rhys Green needs to modulate his voice for the small space, and he tends to overplay his roles as Oceanus and Zeus’ messenger.

Marianne McDonald’s translation is, as usual, accessible. But “Prometheus Bound” is a play of big ideas – rebellion, suffering, unwavering endurance, abuse of power – and little action. Lay attempts to inject some movement into the static play through the ocean nymphs’ synchronized swimming, with varying degrees of success. The overall impression is that the play might be better enjoyed on the page rather than the stage.

And then, for something completely different, “Cyclops” begins with no intermission. These types of so-called satyr plays usually involved a chorus of satyrs (half man, half goat), drinking, sexuality, merriment and general jackassery. The comedy of pratfalls and sexual humor in “Cyclops” is as outsized as the enhanced prosthetic man-parts the satyrs sport. It’s like the lewd ancient Greek version of the Keystone Cops.

Euripides’ story borrows from Homer’s “The Odyssey,” the part when Odysseus’ ship gets blown ashore and he outwits the man-eating Cyclops by getting him drunk and skewering his eye.

This time around Abraham dons a Fred Flintstone caveman outfit and one-eyed mask as the Cyclops, and gets to caper with the satyrs, played by Greg Lawson, Devin O’Neill and Marcuz Rodriguez. Green, whose overacting actually works for this comedy piece, embodies the papa satyr with glee. Chris Fonseca plays the arrogant blowhard Odysseus.

The comedy is meant to balance out the tragedy that came before. But with little sense of real pity or catharsis in “Prometheus,” the clownish hijinks of “Cyclops” feels similarly underwhelming.

About the author: Jennifer Chung Klam is an editor at The Daily Transcript and a freelance arts and culture writer.
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Posted by MARIANNE MCDONALD	Wed, Nov 19th, 2008
There is little action in Prometheus Bound because it is written by the father of Western tragedy (Aeschylus) in the early fifth century BC, and he is better at poetry than action. The poetry is actually beautiful, and difficult to convey. As translator, I can only try. The drama was enough to inspire Shelley, Thoreau, Heiner Mueller, Tom Paulin (the rebellion represented Irish dreams of freedom) and many others who wanted to protest oppressive regimes....or to celebrate freedom and creativity. The long-suffering Prometheus gave much of his life(he's immortal) to bring the gift of imagination, the arts, and the sciences to man in the form of fire. He is also a symbol of all who suffer and endure it (AIDS, Cancer patients, etc) for the sake of their loved ones. It was the first play the Greeks staged to open Delphi as a Drama center. It was chosen by the Byzantines as one of the surviving greats. Sorry it doesn't suit some modern taste. Like the king said to Mozart, "Too many notes, my dear Mozart, too many notes"....so for some modern theatergoers now it's "too many words, my dear Aeschylus, too many words...."

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