Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

As Greek mythology goes, the story of Phaedra is a pretty juicy one: involving deceit, betrayal, intrigue and sexual desire. There are various versions of the tragic tale, but they all pretty much agree that Phaedra, wife of Theseus-heroic warrior and King of Athens, falls madly and hopelessly in love with Hippolytus, Theseus's son resulting from his raping an Amazon woman warrior. When the boy enters early manhood, manifesting athletic and hunting prowess, and dad is off at war, matters begin to get extremely complicated. The captivating story serves as the dramatic source for plays by Euripides, Seneca, and Racine, to mention only a few.

Presently, Shalimar Productions' "La Femme Est Morte," created and directed by Shoshona Currier, is presenting its own version at The 10th Annual New York International Fringe Festival. Press material states that segments of he text are "gratefully borrowed" from Seneca, speeches of a few famous generals, novels and essays of contemporary writers and interviews with four women "in the news" for various reasons. The extremely energetic and talented ensemble of eight actors, skillfully choreographed by Isis Masoud with mellifluous musical direction by Joey Williamson, sets a lively and entertaining pace throughout.

In choosing to tell the story by placing it in America with a time frame of "Now/And Then," the result is an interesting theatrical collage of Greek myth, recognizable songs, frenetic dance sequences, philosophical meanderings about war and love, a good deal of humor and frequent allusions to hip pop culture. A sultry and sensuous Phaedra (Kim Gainer), when not conflicted or confined, often emanates unmitigated lust toward an initially perplexed Hippolytus (a sporty Jesse Hooker). He displays skilled and often exciting boxing abilities with his friend X (a diversely solid Jack P. Dempsey) and an impassioned battle with Theseus (a commanding Atticus Rowe). Jen Taher, Phaedra's nurse/publicist, does a fine job of portraying her over-the-top persona. Additional treats of the production are provided by the three paparazzi/chorus/troubadours (Michelle Enfield, Joey Williamson and Amber Dow) with their comic timing and splendid voices.

About those "gratefully borrowed" segments of text, for me most remain a bit of a mystery since they weren't identified and many were not recognizable. Sometimes I'd sense a change in the speaker's tempo or realize that a character was poetically rambling about something which didn't quite seem to fit, although they sometimes seemed to make a point, of sorts. Nevertheless, the production's many satirical shots at life by, for and in America today seem to hit the mark, as does the entertainment value of the play.