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

From Old Roots—New Orpheus Opera

 

 

 

The IN Series of Washington, DC under the direction of Timothy Nelson and in partnership with Theatre Nogaku (an international Noh drama group) premiered an extraordinary new opera entitled The Nightsong of Orpheus. The Dresser attended the opening night performance September 9, 2022. The work is an amalgam of story, music, and dance based on two Claudio Monteverdi compositions: Vespers and L’Orfeo as performed by the Innovãtiõ Baroque Orchestra, Akira Matsui—master teacher-artist of the Kita School of classical Noh, and a cast seven singers. This intimate production, presented first at the Source Theatre (later performances run at the Dupont Underground), features a runway stage with limited audience seating on either side with the orchestra positioned at one end of audience seating.

 

Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo is based on the Greek myth that tells the love story of Orpheus and Eurydice, her death, and his attempt to bring her back to life.  Nightsong uses Christopher Cowell’s English translation of Alessandro Striggio’s L’Orfeo (Italian) libretto.

 

Monteverdi’s Vespers is a sacred composition venerating Mary, mother of Christ, and her praise of God. It was written in the same year as L’Orfeo and shares some of the same music. Segments of Vespers presented by the Noh characters of Nightsong are in Japanese as translated by Eiki Isomura.

 

The singing talent for this production was considerable. Given how small the theater space was, the sound vibrations were not only heard but felt. Standout performers were mezzo-soprano Janna Critz, baritone Robin McGinness, and countertenor Hunter Shaner.

 

 

 

The baroque orchestra included harpsichord, organ, two strolling violins, treble viola da gamba, bass gamba, theorbo, and two instruments used in Noh theater—fue (bamboo flute) and taiko (drum).  Music and stage director Timothy Nelson’s decision to send the violinists around the stage brought emphasis to the orchestra’s musical importance and fine performance.

 

Kudos to Movement Director Jubilith Moore of Theatre Nogaku who included tai chi movements in the dance choreography which exuded joyful energy and precision.

 

The Noh costumes and masks added color to the mostly black-pants-white-shirts outfits of the singers. Japanese toe socks were worn by all the players except Orpheus (tenor Tony Boutteé) who was barefoot.

 

Another unexpected and exotic element involved calligraphic painting on the papered floor of the runway stage. In the tradition of ephemeral brushstroke art, the papered floor was torn away at the end of the production to signal that human life (i.e., that of Orpheus and Euridice) and its stories were limited.

 

Historians and critics agree that L’Orfeo marks the beginning of great opera. With The Nightsong of Orpheus that combines early baroque music with centuries old Far Eastern theater, the IN Series has given opera as an artistic discipline and the work of Monteverdi a fresh framework for current day theatergoers to discover, absorb, and enjoy.

 

Photos by: Bayou Elom