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Preview : Clytemnestra

 

iants lumbering across the Thames Valley, spitting camels in Southern Arabia and snowball fights in New York City. It is not quite what one expects from a Sunday morning rehearsal of Oxford’s upcoming Greek Play, Clytemnestra. It certainly made me sit up and take note of this production.
I should explain. I am sitting in on the first workshop with a group of about 15 volunteers playing ‘the Furies’, demonic spectral beings who chose to reveal themselves to punish Orestes for killing Aigisthos and his mother, Clytemnestra. Only Orestes can see them, and as he descends into madness even he cannot be sure whether they are real or not. To help the Furies get to grips with wearing large (and very stuffy!) masks, director Raymond Blankenhorn outlines a range of random scenarios to act out in order to practice using ones body to convey emotion, rather than relying purely facial expressions. Its exciting and creative stuff.
The Furies are a superb bunch of actresses, especially considering that this was their first rehearsal together. They have a great physicality and are already experimenting with levels and characterisation to superb and haunting effect. A word or two must go to Jack Noutch playing Orestes, who really is top notch. It is the mark of a talented actor when a performance is so rich and enthralling that on the sixth run of the same scene he can continue to surprise and intrigue. There is something infinitely cool about speaking Ancient Greek – getting attacked by staring warped individuals in masks is pretty freaky anytime, but in Ancient Greek it takes on a whole new dimension, and Noutch delivers it with just the right mix of power and subtlety, making light work of the difficult task of not only getting the lines out, but capturing the nuances and cadences as well.
As I only saw five minutes of one scene, I can’t really give Clytemnestra a star rating. I think therefore, I will have to leave the final words to the director himself. ‘It’s easy to lose yourself in the world of the mask,’ Blanckenhorn says to his cast mid rehearsal. I couldn’t agree more.

Giants lumbering across the Thames Valley, spitting camels in Southern Arabia and snowball fights in New York City. It is not quite what one expects from a Sunday morning rehearsal of Oxford’s upcoming Greek Play, Clytemnestra. It certainly made me sit up and take note of this production.

I should explain. I am sitting in on the first workshop with a group of about 15 volunteers playing ‘the Furies’, demonic spectral beings who chose to reveal themselves to punish Orestes for killing Aigisthos and his mother, Clytemnestra. Only Orestes can see them, and as he descends into madness even he cannot be sure whether they are real or not. To help the Furies get to grips with wearing large (and very stuffy!) masks, director Raymond Blankenhorn outlines a range of random scenarios to act out in order to practice using ones body to convey emotion, rather than relying purely facial expressions. Its exciting and creative stuff.

The Furies are a superb bunch of actresses, especially considering that this was their first rehearsal together. They have a great physicality and are already experimenting with levels and characterisation to superb and haunting effect. A word or two must go to Jack Noutch playing Orestes, who really is top notch. It is the mark of a talented actor when a performance is so rich and enthralling that on the sixth run of the same scene he can continue to surprise and intrigue. There is something infinitely cool about speaking Ancient Greek – getting attacked by staring warped individuals in masks is pretty freaky anytime, but in Ancient Greek it takes on a whole new dimension, and Noutch delivers it with just the right mix of power and subtlety, making light work of the difficult task of not only getting the lines out, but capturing the nuances and cadences as well.

As I only saw five minutes of one scene, I can’t really give Clytemnestra a star rating. I think therefore, I will have to leave the final words to the director himself. ‘It’s easy to lose yourself in the world of the mask,’ Blanckenhorn says to his cast mid rehearsal. I couldn’t agree more.

 

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