Alceste: A Stormy Marriage of Opposites

The InSeries of Washington, DC, opened the 2023-2024 season with their updated version of the Euripides play Alceste as translated by British poet Ted Hughes, with additional texts by Sylvia Plath and Sybil Roberts, and supported by the music of George Frederic Handel. The Dresser saw the October 7, 2023, performance at the Gala Hispanic Theatre.

 

A tragicomedy, this InSeries embellished play with music emphasizes the voice of a woman (Alceste) who commits suicide to ensure a longer life for her husband Admetos. Admetos was offered a longer life by the god Apollo but only if someone else agrees to die in Admetos’ place. Admetos, who is known as a generous host, is paid an unexpected visit by the god Hercules, a half brother of Apollo. However, the visit by Hercules comes as Admetos is burying Alceste. Hercules, unaware of Alceste’s death, gets drunk and acts out, but soon hears from the angry servants about the queen’s death. Deeply mortified, Hercules wrests Alceste from Death and restores her to Admetos.

 

This production of Alceste has a cast of two real-life wife and husband actors Michelle Rogers (Alceste) and KenYatta Rogers (Admetos) and five singers: soprano Maribeth Diggle (Hercules) and chorus: soprano Dawna Rae Warren, mezzo soprano Janna Critz, English tenor Oliver Mercer, baritone Rob McGinness. The singing which includes portamento, a languorous sliding between notes, is delivered satisfyingly in keeping with the grief of this story. Rob McGinness’ baritone performance is a standout. The nine-piece orchestra (organ, harpsichord, 2-3 violin and 1 viola, 2 cellos and 2 oboes) is led by Timothy Nelson on organ.

 

The overall impression of this production is a stormy marriage of opposites. The centerpiece of this struggle is Hercules, who is the fulcrum for all the polarities. He manifests this as a drunken houseguest who contrasts with the grieving King. He is at the epitome of bad behavior as he literally gets under the skin of an angry servant, done as a dance where he twins himself to the male servant by standing behind the man threading his (Hercules’) arms into the other’s tunic. Maribeth Diggle does an exceptionally good job at making this character an over-the-top force. Hercules is also the only character who both speaks and sings his lines. He is the actor who turns the story from tragedy to comedy. The Dresser surmises that Artistic Director Timothy Nelson cast this role with a woman to emphasize the youth of Hercules.

 

The InSeries production added text to amplify Alceste’s role as a female and to change the perception that Alceste was just a pawn in this story and to elevate her station as Queen to King Admetos. Admittedly, when the Dresser heard the following lines from Sylvia Plath’s poem “Lady Lazarus” being spoken by Alceste, she (the Dresser) instantly was jolted out of the Euripides play Alceste into the real-life story of Plath’s suicide and the role her philandering husband Ted Hughes.

 

Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.

 from "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath

Because the InSeries is known for bringing surprising contemporary perspectives to its productions, the insertion of poetic lines from Sylvia Plath made sense. The production runtime was two hours and that felt overly long by at least 30 minutes. The end had other text insertions by Sybil Roberts that probably could have been shortened. The beginning of the work also seemed slow and the Dresser wonders if something could have been done to jazz or blues-ify the music. Nonetheless, the Dresser was glad to have seen this production with its use of intriguing masks, accomplished singers and musicians, and compelling intertwined stories.

The next InSeries production running November 17 through December 17, 2023, is The Promised End, a theater piece conceived by Timothy Nelson that combines Verdi’s Requiem, Shakespeare’s King Lear, and texts by Marjorie Garber.

 

Photo credit: Bayou Elom