Seventeen years, foreign television and too many flies make Helen of Troy go from a bombshell to a time bomb. Helen, by Euripides and adapted by Ellen McLaughlin, is LiveArts' newest production. It creates a human being behind the face that launched a thousand ships.
The first thing one notices in the 70-seat black box theatre is the beautiful Egyptian hotel set. Entering through what later becomes the elevator shaft that looks into Helen's bedroom, one sees a beautiful, blue, circular bed center stage and a vanity stage right. The fire exit was even decorated to look like a balcony view of an Egyptian pyramid. The "Exit" sign was still present but with foreign writing above it.
The very beginning of the play starts off humorously. Helen speaks about a multitude of deaths (mirroring images of the Trojan War). She then reveals to the audience a fly swatter and replicates the murderous description on the common house pests. At one poignant moment, Helen realizes that her methods of killing flies "just because" are the same motives behind the godly interference during the Trojan War. The script alone is hilarious, full of literary allusions and is reason enough to see the show.
The cast is made up of Jennifer Downey as Helen, Cynthia Burke as the Servant, Susan Burke (yes they're sisters! Caldwells anyone?) as Io, Linda C. Zuby as Athena and Chris Baumer as Menelaus. The most outstanding players of the show are the Burke sisters. The two had such a range of emotions that they drew the audience's attention and never lost it. Zuby was also hilarious as the bitter, sexual, witty and sarcastic Athena. Downey and Baumer were the weakest of the actors in the show. Though they had strong emotions, they only portrayed single emotions -- craziness/frustration and anger. Their lack of range took me out of the show.
Don't get me wrong, the show was strong, but it left me hungry for more from Helen and her lover. The one time I felt anything for Helen's conundrum of being the cause for the Trojan War was in the last scene because of the Servant's strong performance. Downey's tonality also was irritating at times. Her choice to be constantly sarcastic made all of her serious lines fall flat. There was no distinction between her humor and herself. Her voice had a very performance feel, as if it wasn't her natural speaking voice or even a comfortable voice. This might have been a character choice, along with her empty emotions, to clearly portray Helen as a real person or merely a "concept."
The play, though written in 412 B.C., has very modern, prevalent themes -- responsibility, idealism, love vs. lust, reason and faith. While some may be scared by the fact that the show is an adapted Greek drama, fear not. The language of the show is humorous (did Athena ever use the word bitch in The Odyssey?) and has enough wit to keep you laughing the entire time. Some instances of this gave the show a Saturday Night Live feel rather than that of a "boring" Greek drama. The show is appropriate for everyone, especially Classics majors, and should be enjoyed for its comedy and at times touching moments.
A reoccurring sound effect is the bell for the elevator. At the end of the show, once the bell has sounded for every character, Helen has to make her own decision either to "go down," back to her celebratory life, or go to the next floor of self-realization. All of us must face this decision, though not in such an extremity, but we must decide who we are and how to face the flies of the world
Helen will run at Live Arts' UpStage through Oct. 28. Tickets are $14.
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