Elektra/Orestes

Independent theatre company The Hive Collective follow up their first 2021 production, a Greek myth mash-up, with another take on ancient Greek history – this time it is the turn of infamous siblings Elektra and Orestes – children of murdered hero of the Trojan war, King Agamemnon – to tell their tragic tale, with a modern twist. This play is a warning of the spiral of events that can be somehow predestine some family histories to repeat down the generations – especially when betrayal, revenge and murder are involved!

Elektra/Orestes is a 2015 script by performers, directors and playwrights Jada Alberts and Anne-Louise Sarks, co-written and first performed when Sarks was Resident Director at Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney. Sarks has also worked on other productions that retell the Greek myths of Medea and Oedipus, and Alberts has been a writing fellow with Bell Shakespeare – so, these award-winning multi-talented practitioners have knowledge and experience with this type of material, and certainly deserve a showcase – but for me this particular script would benefit from richer language to elevate it above family soap-opera drama. The rendition works when there’s humour, but – as anyone familiar with the Greek tragedies will know – there’s not a lot of laughs in the material. Violette Ayad as the gothed-out Elektra is a formidable figure, and she certainly ekes out as many laughs as possible in her energised opening sequences, blasting her sister Kyrsothemis away with her loud Joy Division soundtrack. Her Elektra is a strong woman, equal to her exiled brother, and it would have been satisfying to see more scenes in the script for Tate Hinchy and Violette Ayad to play around with and underline their strong stage presence. All the performers succeeded in steering the material on a steady course. Caroline Dunphy was a highlight as Klytemnestra, the matriarch of the murderous family, with Marcus Oborn as her tedious toyboy, Aigisthus. Tatum Mottin’s Kyrsothemis is an airhead who doesn’t even realise she is repeating the pattern of infidelity that has blotted the family line. Excellent music by Composer/Sound Designer Julian Starr helped to make this theme palpable.

Directed by Heather Fairbairn, the production is a neat time-encapsulated piece in two distinct parts: the first half is Elektra, creating havoc with her influence over the suburban household; the second half is all about the chaos caused by Orestes’ return, and the siblings’ pact to avenge their father’s death – and at this point it all goes a bit Quentin Tarantino – undercut by some neat lighting by Christine Felmingham. Sarah Winter’s stark set design worked better in Hive’s first 2021 production, The Bull, The Moon & the Coronet of Stars – here the simplicity of the Australian kitchen/living room setting is fractured by a complicated and lengthy set change that slowed the pace and broke the dramatic tension – surely an easily ironed-out glitch. However, even after multi-tasking as scene-shifters, the actors retained the energy. While the play’s short running time is a welcome feature, the fact that so much of the saga’s back story is told and not shown only intensifies the TV drama flavour. The play’s style may spark a connection for younger audiences between ancient theatre and today’s modern drama themes – and the danger of violence perpetrated in one person’s name is surely a timeless and timely warning. However, the script’s peppering of expletives and abundance of stage blood may rule out school viewings, which seems a wasted opportunity. With all the plotting and betrayal, sibling loyalty and rivalry, still a bigger question hangs in silence over the plot, screaming out to be dealt with. Due to their older sister’s death, Elektra now calls herself the eldest in the family, and yet it is her younger brother Orestes who is next in line for the throne. While this surely clouds Elektra’s dark mood, she never mentions this depressing and unfair fact. Perhaps the playwrights would consider an updated version in the future?

Beth Keehn

Photographer: Stephen Henry