Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

The American Theatre of Actors’ current production, IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS, in the ATA’s Outdoor Theater celebrates a classic Greek drama in traditional arena style. In this enclosed amphitheatre, wooden benches on either side of the playing space substitute for the traditional curved stone steps of the Athenian theatron. An altar stands in the center and large fabric covered flats with draped entryways encircle the theatre. The elevated stage on one side defines the Temple of Artemis, the setting for Euripedes’ IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS. In this open air setting, amidst the towering brick structures and the city fire escapes, Jeff S. Dailey suggests the ambience of the Theater of Dionysus in Athens.

Historians have theorized that Euripedes may have written the tragedy with heavily utilized deus ex machina in response to the then warring Greeks and Spartans, as a hopeful outcome for the Athenians. IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS is Euripedes’ extrapolation of the legends about the curse of the House of Atreus. Agamemnon, in his attempt to avenge the abduction of Helen of Troy, and following the advice of seer Calchis, had sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, but the goddess, Artemis, rescued her and set her down in the Temple in Tauris. Some twenty years hence, we find Agamemnon’s daughter, alone, childless, and a priestess in the Temple of Artemis, where she anoints the sacrificial waters to seal the bloody fate on foreigners washed ashore in Tauris. The conflict occurs when her loyalty to Artemis and to King Thoas is tested by two Greeks brought forth to the Temple. Through the understanding of the religious rites and the duties to the gods, Apollo and Artemis, the tragedy reveals that the two Greek foreigners are Orestes, Iphigenia’s brother, and Pylades, her brother-in-law. The “happy ending” comes from Athena’s rap of justice and protection of the escaping Greeks in the names of Apollo and Artemis.

Jeff S. Dailey has directed a relatively young and talented cast in ATA’s production of IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS. Through the use of the multiple hidden entryways, ritualized movement, and levels, Dailey has guided his cast in a well-rehearsed performance. It’s evident by the control of the dialogue that the text has been studied and investigated during the rehearsal process.

Iphigenia, played by Morgan Nevans, sets the religious tone when she enters veiled in candlelight to choral music. Morgan Nevans continues to command the language and rigidity of royalty throughout the play. Orestes, Jason Resnikoff, is a lost soul, seemingly abandoned by the gods and chased by the Furies. Jason Resnikoff’s down-trodden look and staggering movements invoke the audience’s empathy. Quincy Ellis, as Pylades, provides striking contrast to Jason’s wandering Orestes. His severe stature and unyielding eyes prove his brotherly loyalty to Orestes. Maidens: Samantha Cole, Leslie Kelly, and Claire Nasuti, serve well as the female chorus. Of note, Samantha Cole’s presence is striking and one can’t help but secretly watch her in the background reacting to news. Herdsman, Michael Swartz, is simply sweet and slightly comic in his re-enactment of the capture of Orestes and Pylades on the shores. King Thoas, Dennis Demitry, appears as a cold and persuadable man. Soldier, Adam Griffith, creates a sincere moment of his monologue recounting the struggle with the Greeks at the ship. And Nikole Williams’s voice and physical appearance ring absolute as the goddess Athena.

Euripedes, having known the legends of the cursed House of Atreus, and having seen Aeschylus’s Oresteia, may have composed this version of the conclusion of Orestes’ wandering and Iphigenia’s disappearance around 413 B.C., but the themes of war torn families and religious rites are still relevant today. The American Theatre of Actors’ IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS brings to light these themes within the encompassing Greek theater atmosphere. Although the theatrical elements of spectacle are basic and the cast is youthful, the ATA has produced this Greek tragedy with a clear authority of the language and its thematic intentions.