The war is over, Tereus must choose a bride, choose between duty and desire. But is the passion of love justification for despicable acts? Timberlake Wertenbaker's iridescent retelling of a violent Greek myth crackles with lyrical language and vivid action, questioning love, hate, sex and everything in between.
This is a Greek tragedy that possesses all the juicy bits you would expect; love, brutality, passion, betrayal and despair. The play manipulates its ancient and exotic setting to tackle the modern questions; can we control who we love? What happens to a nation that is silenced? Why is rape the crime with the lowest rate of conviction?
Opening night review:-
The Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker,
Director Emily Jenkins
Putney Arts Theatre, Tuesday 23rd February – Saturday 27th February 2010
Running just until Saturday, this production of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play gives us a glimpse of a classical Greek world that has distance and strangeness but which reaches heart-rendingly into concerns in our modern lives. Themes of courage, politics and the power of speech run throughout the play and are securely tied here to sexuality. The messages are clear and resolute but this is no moral lecture, for the play is powerful, complex drama.
This production then, works the play well, skilfully allowing us to taste the high tragedy of the ancient world but seeing how it blends all too easily with the horrors of our own, violent society. We are plunged into a male dominated world with the roar of ‘War!’, and then skilfully and quickly drawn into the feminine and the familiar, through the beautifully played, intimate confidences shared between two loving young sisters. The cast offers some fine performances and is strong, facing the challenges of shifting between violent and tender emotions with great skill. As audience, we become intrigued, fearful, even tearful, laugh and are horrified in quick succession. A deceptively simple, versatile set frames some striking images and the effective use of sounds, music and dance all help to engross us as the story unfolds. We are taken assuredly on a rollercoaster of a ride but are left in the end distinctly chilled and haunted by what we have witnessed. This is definitely a play for our time, this production, one not to be missed.
Christine Doddington
Senior Lecturer
University of Cambridge
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