This past weekend the theater and dance department at the College put on “Iphigenia and Other Daughters.” The production was filled with talented actors, beautiful costumes and a set that grabbed viewers attention from the second the doors opened. The show was an impressive piece of work the College can be proud of.
The story focuses on the dynamics of an affluent family in their post-Greek tragedy state. Iphigenia, the favorite daughter of the mother Clytemnestra, is sacrificed by her father to please the goddess Artemis for the return of wind so he and his crew can sail to Troy.
Enraged at the lost of her favorite daughter, Clytemnestra kills her husband, leaving her with two daughters, Electra and Chrysothemis, and one son, Orestes.
The play focuses on the family dynamic after both deaths. Clytemnestra and Electra constantly fight, Chryothemise tries to survive the chaos and the older brother Orestes comes home for the first time in many years, unsuccessfully attempting to portray himself as someone else. Confrontation, incest and murder plots ensue in this short and unique modernized Greek play.
The set was simplistic yet beautiful. Lighting is an easy thing to do wrong, but this production was quite successful at setting the mood with its light changes and colors. One of the most haunting parts of the show was the music that played prior to and throughout the production.
It was neither contemporary nor classic. It was like an additional character, establishing the feeling of the show and perpetuating it through some rather lengthy scene changes.
The costumes served as a helpful visual aid in identifying the personality of each character. The only costume I took issue with was the uptight sister Chrysothemis.† Her costume was reminiscent clothing worn by the Puritans.
While I recognize that it was intended to symbolize how different she was from the rest of the family, a perspective of reason within the chaos,† I feel that there were other ways to dress her to get the same message across.
The cast itself was generally very talented. The actresses who played Electra ó Mary Kate Donnelly ’13, and Iphigenia ó Bridget Hillyer ’13, stole the show. Hillyer’s opening monologue as Iphegnia was extremely captivating; she reminds me of a young Kate Winslet. She was so passionate and engulfed in her character, I was disappointed that her role was not larger because I enjoyed watching her performance.
Hillyer is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and her commitment to her character was outstanding. She was the glue that held the entire show together, and she did it very well.
Clementrya, played by Alexandra Dereix ’14, was good, although I thought there were times where the character fell a bit flat.
Nevertheless, Dereix is only a first-year and definitely a person to keep your eye on in the College’s upcoming performances.
The only male lead in the show, Orestes, was played by Kevin Glass ’14. In a cast of talented women Glass held his own, to say the least.
His character’s on-stage chemistry with Electra was really terrific and gave both of them a time to shine on stage.
The chorus was a curious entity within the show. They were always on stage, and always participating. Their movements were very specific and detailed, feet were always pointed or shoulders purposefully arched.
Even during the scene changes, their bodies were moving in very fluid and choreographed moves. The ensemble was very in tune with each other, making their sometimes random actions seem more sensical.
Director Season Ellison did an excellent job in making the ensemble a part of every scene, but never distracting from what is going on, a task that can be very difficult to do with ensembles.