Phaedra's Love

Admittedly, I was genuinely hyped up for this play; the purported rawness of in-yer-face theatre actually had me excited for what this rendition of Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love had to offer.  I hadn’t learned of Sarah Kane until class that day, but her reputation as a dauntless playwright who explored unconventional and often controversial themes provoked my curiosity.  This was definitely heightened by the idea that these themes wouldn’t be expressed timidly on stage; I was prepared to be shocked and mesmerized by this gritty theatre style that was entirely inconsistent with my presumed notions of traditional theatre.

Performed at the Arcola Theatre, I was honestly in slight disbelief at how unimpressive and bare the entrance was, but my relatively high expectations for the play didn’t wane yet.  The actual theatre and stage setup seemed unrefined and scant; albeit appropriate I suppose to accentuate a dreary atmosphere to prepare the audience for the crude material that would soon follow.  I took my seat, top center, giving me what I assumed would be a great view of everything that would transpire on stage.  The ritualistic use of curtains to signal the beginning and end of plays was replaced by Nicholas Shaw, who plays Hippolytus, already in character sitting amongst piles of garbage, eating McDonalds and watching what sounded like Scarface, which I found amusing.  It reminded me that this was going to be an unorthodox theatre-going experience and I was ready to give it my undivided attention.  Unfortunately, what followed was a profoundly bland and tedious performance.

Essentially, the greatest problem with this version of Phaedra’s Love lies in the actor’s performances.  There was a sense of total lack of chemistry between the actors and I couldn’t get past the fact.  Particularly in the exchanges between Hippolytus and Phaedra; every line felt forced and lifeless.  Kane’s plays, as I understood, are supposed to be bold and confident but these actors invoke none of that.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see through the monotony in which every line was delivered.  As the play continued, I became progressively less convinced of the purpose behind any of the interactions and reactions of the characters and the plot became increasingly nonsensical and almost laughable.  I couldn’t feel or even comprehend this supposed passion and irresistible lust Phaedra had for her step-son.  Many scenes felt unnecessary, as if they were added in simply for shock value, such as the scene when the priest gives Hippolytus a blowjob.  Not even the end mob/riot scene was convincing.  Undoubtedly dark and pretty graphic, it still looked like a bunch of confused teenagers making noise as they ran in circles.  It felt too systematic instead of chaotic.  Is this what was supposed to disturb and intimidate me?  Random, unconvincing blowjobs, semi-graphic violence, and curse words in poetic dialogue?

What made director Bronwenn Carr’s interpretation of this play inferior was it lacked any meaning and this undermines the purpose of Kane’s work.  My last thoughts walking out were simply, “That’s it?”