A few days ago I posted this on social media to let Chicago friends know about this production of Agamemnon at Court Theater. I haven't seen any reviews of it, but I don't need to. Since I've posted about Newell and Court before I thought I should paste it here:
Right now Agamemnon is at the Court Theatre. If you must beg, borrow or scrape to get the ticket price, I would advise it—especially if you have an interest in drama (or in the human condition). This is astounding. Only three of us stood up afterwards, in place of the habitual standing ovations plays get now, because I think people were stunned. The rarity of this opportunity cannot be overstated. Last season's Iphigenia at Aulis, which told the story of Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter on the battlefield of Troy, was good...but this continuation (of the story) is really beyond that. If drama is religion then Aeschylus is Jesus Christ or some such towering figure. The chances of seeing a straightforward Greek presentation in Chicago (and especially Aeschylus) are practically nil, but Charles Newell pulled it off. I take back every bad thing I've said about him during his tenure, and that's been a lot. I've been involved in theater in some capacity for 30 years, at least the last 23 of that as a dramatist—but in an amateur (going to the root of the word) rather than professional capacity. There have been two momentous occasions for me as a theater goer (and I've seen a lot of good theater). One was Oedipus Rex in the Yeats translation done as the original in masks up at Stratford. And now this. (Present day companies have gone for spectacle ahead of drama—but this is pure "zero to the bone" drama like you've never seen it. Try not to sit extreme left (auditorium left) if you go because sightlines issues, and be prepared to listen.) I saw Brecht the other night at Loyola. Forget it. The odds are likely more than 1,000 to one that you'll see Brecht staged before Aeschylus. And—much as Brecht's theater is admirable—Aeschylus makes the rest of us look like pastry cooks.
Right now Agamemnon is at the Court Theatre. If you must beg, borrow or scrape to get the ticket price, I would advise it—especially if you have an interest in drama (or in the human condition). This is astounding. Only three of us stood up afterwards, in place of the habitual standing ovations plays get now, because I think people were stunned. The rarity of this opportunity cannot be overstated. Last season's Iphigenia at Aulis, which told the story of Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter on the battlefield of Troy, was good...but this continuation (of the story) is really beyond that. If drama is religion then Aeschylus is Jesus Christ or some such towering figure. The chances of seeing a straightforward Greek presentation in Chicago (and especially Aeschylus) are practically nil, but Charles Newell pulled it off. I take back every bad thing I've said about him during his tenure, and that's been a lot. I've been involved in theater in some capacity for 30 years, at least the last 23 of that as a dramatist—but in an amateur (going to the root of the word) rather than professional capacity. There have been two momentous occasions for me as a theater goer (and I've seen a lot of good theater). One was Oedipus Rex in the Yeats translation done as the original in masks up at Stratford. And now this. (Present day companies have gone for spectacle ahead of drama—but this is pure "zero to the bone" drama like you've never seen it. Try not to sit extreme left (auditorium left) if you go because sightlines issues, and be prepared to listen.) I saw Brecht the other night at Loyola. Forget it. The odds are likely more than 1,000 to one that you'll see Brecht staged before Aeschylus. And—much as Brecht's theater is admirable—Aeschylus makes the rest of us look like pastry cooks.
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