(Photo by Jonathan L. Green)
Chicago has certainly witnessed its fair share of contemporized Greek theater in recent seasons—Mary-Arrchie’s “Electra,” Victory Gardens’ “Oedipus el Rey” and The Hypocrites’ “Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses” to name but a few. However, a couple productions stand out intellectually from the phalanx. While the aforementioned list is, in fact, made up of adaptations of ancient texts originally intended for the stage, Enda Walsh’s “Penelope” at Steppenwolf Theatre and Sideshow Theatre Company’s currently running “Idomeneus” place their focus on Homeric mythological characters outside of the realm of extant Greek drama. Therein lies the rub.
You see, the predominant simplicity of Grecian comedy and tragedy is not an accurate reflection on Homer’s dense and lengthy epic poetry. No, sir. “The Odyssey” and “The Iliad” are event-laden, detail-oriented and languid efforts. So, whereas modern productions of “Medea” can shirk the responsibility of relaying winding familial lineages and underscoring the cultural importance of Jason’s famous voyage without much consequence for an audience, strictly literary mythos is undeniably more peculiar. Those stories are foreign to a majority of playgoers, typically being reserved for study in the academic sphere–perhaps “The Iliad” is lazy Sunday reading for some, but alas, not for me–and thus, when staged, absolutely require clarity of narrative. Substance over style.
Walsh’s “Penelope,” though safely and conservatively realized by Steppenwolf was, at the very least, easy enough to track. Odysseus’ wife Penelope has four suitors who wear Speedos. Done and dusted. But I cannot say the same for Sideshow’s “Idomeneus” at the DCASE Storefront Theater which, though visually rich, relaxedly sunbathes on its sandy set as the play’s overwhelmingly demure facets forego the optical boldness of the design and staging. What results is a lagging hour whose overplayed style harshly overwhelms the story. A story essentially cobbled together from three distinctive takes: Homer, Virgil, and Maurus Servius Honoratus.
