Phaedra's Love

-Phaedra’s Love, by Sarah Kane at the Arcola Theatre.

            It was loud, it was in your face, and to be brutally honest, it was predictable. My first impression upon entering the dungeon that is the Arcola was “this can only go two ways, this can be stellar or this can be horrific.” And I was wrong. The entire experience was merely mediocre. I cannot find too much fault with the technical design, because we really felt as if we were in the pits of society, which enhanced the feeling of Hippolytus’s malaise (excepting the moment when the staircase collapsed, that was a bit distracting). But I feel the fault lies mostly, and sadly, with the script itself. All of the sex scenes were expected and boring, the motivations were forced and ludicrous, and the reactions lacked any depth or insight, or really, any glimpse of humanity. This play really needed more palpable pain, which could be the actress’s fault playing Phaedra, or more likely, could be Sarah Cane being more obsessed with a futile attempt at jazzing audiences with the spectacle of ‘shocking’ material. The acting was on point however, especially the daughter and Hippolytus; I could relate to Hippolytus even if I could never actually be anything like him myself. The one exception to this rule would be Phaedra’s first pseudo-soliloquy to her daughter about her ‘burning passion’ for Hippolytus which, instead of disgusting me or perhaps intriguing me, simply rendered me ambivalent. The overall arch of the story left much to be desired. When Sarah Cane gutted Hippolytus she removed the reasons why the events occurred the way they did. Instead of bloodlust and revenge causing the deaths of an innocent character, it was hinted that love spurred Phaedra on to her greatest present ever, an undeserved death for Hippolytus at the hands of his own father. The material even upon reflection isn’t so shocking or disgusting as it is contrived and illogical. No one could feel ‘fulfilled’ via such absurd and uncontrollable factors; even if Hippolytus was excited by the turns of events he had no reason to be suicidal simply because he was bored.

In fact, some of the best plays out there deal with the horror of the absurdity of life, Pinter/Beckett et al, and even if the characters find themselves trapped, there is something in the resistance of the absurdity, however futile, that is beautiful. So perhaps yes, I was disgusted, not by the sex or the killing or the “drama,” but rather by Sarah Cane’s own nihilism and weakness in the face of life. Not to be crude, but perhaps killing herself was only the logical conclusion to her own outlook that seriously needed a few major adjustments in ethos. Constructive Criticism? If Cane had made Phaedra more conflicted, maybe just a single scene where she had a serious conviction to resist her love, or some sort of regret for loving her son-in-law, something could have been salvaged. Or perhaps some actual characterization of Hippolytus, the dad, the daughter, or anyone, that would help too.

DJ Shadow spins, literally

     -September 9^th, Village Underground, London

            DJ Shadow appeared at the Village Underground in Shoreditch as part of his “Shadow Sphere Tour.” I was one of the lucky attendants of the sold-out Friday night show, and it was an experience to be remembered. First of all, the Village Underground is set inside of an old warehouse that looks as if it hasn’t been touched since whenever its operating equipment was removed who-knows-how-long ago. The whole place therefore has a very palpable ‘underground’ feel, as the name of the venue implies. DJ Shadow’s performance was par excellence. The stage was dwarfed by the Shadow Sphere, a giant white sphere that surrounded his setup, and we only initially get to see him when he entered into the Sphere.



He then began his music, remixing fan favorites and sampling new material, all while the stage came alive. Onto the Sphere were projected images that made the Sphere fly off into space, run into bowling pins, and be cut in two, all to the beat of the music. During a high tempo ‘crescendo’ during one of his more popular pieces, ‘Walky Talky,’ the sphere turned around and Shadow was revealed. The use of lighting made this particularly dramatic, as his kit was lit up, as well as the ground, but he was left unlit. Effectively, he was a shadow turning the tables to make the music that washed over the crowd.
Another thing that he did himself was play a song on an electronic drum kit, take a moment, and then remix it right then and there into a repeatable drum line for an apparently impromptu song. His boisterous attitude became apparent when he claimed ‘at least you know you got something for your money, all performers should have to actually do something onstage.’ (This is a scathing attack on many performers, DJs mostly, who simply mix their music beforehand and do little but showboat onstage with their music in the background.) The effects, music, demeanor and flow of the show were impeccable, and although some of his new remixes weren’t my favorite, I couldn’t help having a smile on my face for the entire duration. One thing to note, however sadly, would be that the venue was smaller than I had hoped. The place was packed wall to wall, and this left some people (luckily not myself) outside of the sightlines of the stage, which would have been absolutely horrific in my own opinion. Also the makeup of the crowd was slightly different than what I am used to at clubs in the United States. Although many people, UK residents included, danced and made general idiots of themselves (myself included), the vast majority somewhat ‘bobbed’ or, perhaps, let the music wash over them. Before I found likeminded individuals I actually felt out-of-sorts jumping up and down to a repetitive bass line, which would be standard fare in my own experience in the US. All in all though, I can’t recommend the Shadow highly enough, his live performance preserves the depth of thought that is easily apparent in his recorded work. 
Also, it was fun!