Review: Orestes, A Tragic Romp

Orestes, A Tragic Romp opened at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre in Washington, D.C. on January 27. Thanks to a Boston University field trip, I had the opportunity to attend the second performance of the show. The production is a modern adaptation of Euripides' timeless drama, grounded in Anna Washburn's accessible translation and Aaron Posner's brilliant direction.

The Trojan War is over. Upon returning from Troy, Agamemnon is brutally murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra. At the advice of the god Apollo, their son, Orestes, kills his mother to avenge his father's death. As the play begins, Orestes and his sister, Electra, who aided in her mother's murder, await the judgment of the citizens and the gods.

Holly Twyford had me at her opening soliloquy. Every flinch, every nervous glance, every clench of her fist expresses Electra's grief, desperation, and impassioned anger. And the 100-minute production never loses its momentum. Jay Sullivan's Orestes is dramatic and deliberate. Chris Genebach takes on four distinct characters with charm and astute comedic timing. But the re-imagined Greek chorus is reason enough to buy your ticket. Obie Award-winning composer James Sugg delivers an "intricate a cappella braid of chant, hand beat rhythms, and raw lyricism" that fully engulfs the theatre.

Orestes concludes its run at the Folger Shakespeare Library on March 7, after which the production continues at the Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, New Jersey.