‘The Bacchae’ and ‘The Birds’ review
‘The Bacchae’ review:
‘Simmering with menace and madness’
An empty stage save for a broken column and vines of ivy, so begins Polloi Productions’ The Bacchae. In a bid to avenge the cruelty faced by his mother and the denial of his own divine status, Dionysus rallies his worshippers to a violent, chaotic worship to which only Pentheus stands opposed. As punishment, Dionysus disguises himself as a follower of his own cult, leading Pentheus into a less than merry dance that not only ensnares the House of Cadmus but serves as the heart of the tragedy.
Despite being a tragedy so wholly under Dionysus’ thrall, The Bacchae allows every cast member to shine. Emma Clews’s Dionysus opens the play with a quiet rage that forebodes disaster, commanding the attention of the audience and chorus alike. Yet the dominating figure of the god does not eclipse the performances of the rest of the cast: Samantha Dotson’s Tiresias – the voice of wisdom and dry wit – makes for an excellent counterpoint to the rising tension created by other cast members. Indeed, the interspersal of the chorus (played by Ivy Harper, Sophie Green and Eleanor Steele) sustains a sense of madness throughout, oscillating between the frenetic and unnervingly still thanks to Catriona Eke’s movement direction. Seizing upon the energy generated by the chorus, Joushua Allison’s Pentheus is a force to be reckoned with as he seeks to wrestle power away from the allure of Dionysus.
Furthermore, it is a testament to the creative vision of co-directors Charlotte Blair and Sophie Green that the smaller roles of Cadmus (played by Laura Turnbull), Agave (played by Olivia Hunt), and the Attendant (played by Damien Smith) make their mark on such an intense performance. As the play draws to a close, Turnbull and Hunt’s raw emotion is the perfect response to the central tragic action, narrated flawlessly by Smith who captures both the tone of the tragedy and the essence of Clews’ Dionysus.
With such powerful performances onstage, it is worth noting that it is the careful considerations behind the scenes that allow a production to shine. The work of Basmah Shoaib as producer, Alanah Wood as design manager and Ivy Harper as costume designer cannot be understated, creating the perfect canvas on which madness and grief dance with wild abandon.
Simmering with menace and madness, Polloi’s The Bacchae balances dark comedy catastrophic loss to create a piece that haunts the reader long after the ritual of performance is at its end. Haunted by the roar of Dionysus and the terrifying final laughter of the chorus, The Bacchae is a truly macabre celebration of ‘a grief so large it knows no size.’
By Claire Sargent.
‘The Birds’ review:
‘A skilful rendition of a theatrical classic’
Polloi Productions brings to life the classical comedy The Birds with brilliant levels of hilarity, in a stunning performance that pulls audiences into a world of bird-based chaos. Staging the journey of two young Athenian men as they attempt to build an empire in the clouds, Polloi Productions tease out brilliant moments of laughter in the many obstacles these men face. As the comedic successor in a double feature, The Birds offers the perfect balance to tragedy, as word play and physical comedy abound, transforming the serious into the profane – ‘Pious off! There’s nothing you can prophet from here!’.
From the opening curtain the performance captivates, as the two marvellously foolish protagonists Pisthetaerus (played by Eleanor Steele) and Euelpides (played by Damien Smith) emerge from among the audience, making their way to centre stage in an exchange entirely comedic. Steele and Smith establish the central tone of the performance, as their witty repartee is matched by excellent moments of physical comedy, with silence only enhancing the overall humour. This physicality is intensified by the Birds themselves, first in the character of Tereus (played by Samantha Dotson) and then the ensuing chorus (performed by Olivia Hunt, Ivy Harper and Laura Turnbull), as they strut and stride into the performance. Swooping around audience members, the company expand the remit of the stage, as the comedy seeps beyond its borders and into the seats of the viewers.
Such fluidity of movement is supported by the costuming of the production, designed by Ivy Harper, as the brilliantly exaggerated and colourful bird wings rustle with the chorus. At points of heightened drama, the technical foresight of the production is at the forefront, as shifts between ambient lighting and colourful illumination not only set off the bright wings, but create depth in the play. The directional awareness of the performance, at the instruction of Jonathan Honnor, is clear in the carefully considered proxemics, as the dynamics of the play are revealed through height and arrangement. An excellent moment of manipulation in which Steele’s Pisthetaerus begins to work his tricks upon the bird chorus of Hunt, Harper and Turnball, sees them seated in front of audiences, and pulled into the emerging utopia of Pisthetaerus’ imagination.
The birds themselves take the spotlight, as Hunt’s hilarious and engaging monologue is accompanied by the physical comedy of Harper and Turnball, to brilliantly establish the two crucial factions at opposition within the play – humanity and “bird-dom”. Bringing the play to equilibrium, the wonderful Emma Clews and Sophie Green embody the divine presence necessary for classical theatre, with Clews’ Hercules a fantastically foolish God and foil to the frustrated Poseidon played by Green. A skilful rendition of a theatrical classic, Polloi’s The Birds is chaos on stage, and utterly unmissable.
By Freyja Hollington.