Performance seen: Thursday 27 March 3pm. Stalls K19. Duke of York's Theatre.
This is a high concept, experimental piece of theatre breathing new life into the centuries old storyfrom Sophocles. In that respect, it was successful. I enjoyed the drastically different approach to the story telling. The Greek Chorus's singing and sound effects were a highlight, although they were perhaps overplayed in the final third of the piece. Brie Larson's performance was good. She's essentially doing a monologue interspersed with some Greek Chorus and the odd bit of dialogue. At times, the delivery was a bit one tone but it wasn't as shouty as expected from the reviews I'd read.
The set effects (very limited - bare stage, white backdrop, a blimp, some chairs and some microphones) and staging were good but were probably not needed inasmuch the words and sounds were the focus here. What the blimp added is anyone's guess. Ditto the spray paint. The wardrobe department are clearly kept busy removing that from the elegant silky gold and white faux fur costumes worn by all but Elektra. She's in jeans, sneakers, shaved head and a Bikini Kill t-shirt.
Overall, the poetry of Brie's (Elektra) words and the opera meets plainchant of the chorus were enjoyable and an interesting way to tell the story. As such, it was more an auditory experience than a visual one for me and that's not a bad thing.
This style of theatre won't be for everyone, but I'm glad to have seen it and I'm glad that experimental, high concept theatre is available in the West End.
Worth noting that after the performance, there was a queue at the stage door waiting for the cast to come out. I'm guessing these were mostly for Ms Larson but I expect Ms Channing also has her fans.
The run ends in a couple of weeks so if you want to catch it, you'll need to be quick. If you shop around, you'll find discounted tickets.
Cast: