Review: THE ORESTEIA - Bridge Theatre (06/08/26)

Modern adaptation of Greek tragedy is close to perfection...

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If we're being honest, I feel like most of us would see a runtime of over three and a half hours, and immediately feel exhausted just at the prospect of embarking on such an epic odyssey of theatre. Fast forward 215 positively thrilling minutes, and the majority would instead have to hold up their hands and admit to being enormously energised by this quite astonishing adaptation of Aeschylus' millennia old story by Simon Stone. It's a tale of justice, vengeance, power dynamics, and societal evolution, all told within a modern setting, following the wealthy but dysfunctional Middleton family, between the years 2016-2026, and the process of their lives falling apart in various ways, in a present day homage to the Cursed House of Atreus.

Themes of murder, betrayal and revenge are not uncommon in Greek tragedy, and whilst the source material has clearly been honoured, Stone has managed to believably reframe the action through patriarch Christopher, his weapon tech company that fuels mass civilian casualties overseas, and how this adversely affects the family dynamic, most notably through freedom fighting daughter Isobel's reaction, and the media furore that ensues. The story begins with a 21st birthday party for Isobel and twin sister Alice, and over time descends into madness, murder and fully realised malicious intent in the bloodiest way possible.

Mary-Louise Parker and David Morrissey (credit: Johan Persson)

Writer and director Stone handles the balance and pacing of the narrative marvellously well, providing us with invaluable exposition in the first act, building towards various characters' demises in the second, and hitting us hard with the tense, bloody climax towards which we were always inevitably making the ill-fated journey. The final act in particular is exquisitely gruesome and gory, keeping us on the edges of our seats and our jaws on the floor, even making us squirm and cringe with discomfort, as absolutely nothing is left to the imagination. If I had one minor criticism, it would be that this could have been pushed even further, really making us as uncomfortable as possible, and maximising the shock factor that we have come to expect from this type of tragic storytelling.

This, however, is but a minor footnote in a sea of bloody magnificent theatre, as everything from Lizzie Clachan's enormous, sprawling 360° set design, often rejigged in real time to match the timings and deterioration of the family's collective psyche, to Nick Schlieper's rather brilliant use of lighting, and the ominous, brooding soundscape masterminded by Peter Rice and composer Katrina Rose, all accentuate the narrative exceedingly well and see Stone's vision for this modern retelling to delightful effect.

What really sells the story though is the domestic hyper-realism used to tell it, complete with overlapping dialogue in scenes of conflict, and staggering over words during deterioration of various mental states, Stone really pushing the feeling that we are flies on the wall watching this familial contention, the eventual bloodbath that ensues, and ultimate complete collapse of the proverbial empire. All of this is for naught, though, without an immensely strong cast to deliver the material, which is exactly what we have in spades, and though every member of this cast left everything out there on stage, there were definite standouts.

Tom Glynn-Carney shows us the full range of his abilities as youngest sibling Augie, lulling us into a false sense of security with his initial boyish, rebellious nature, then proceeding to creep up on us with a gloriously manic, unhinged final act performance, as we end up truly fearing this young man who has lost his way in the worst manner possible. Our duplicitous, manipulative matriarch Montie is brought to life by Mary-Louise Parker, and it is clear she takes no prisoners, displaying with panache her razor sharp wit and fervent determination in getting what she wants, by any means necessary; we are both endeared and repelled by her, making for an enormously compelling, complex character with both justifiable and deplorable motivations.

The company of "The Oresteia" (credit: Johan Persson)

Opposite her in the role of her husband and corporate tyrant Christopher is David Morrissey, who takes the character by the scruff of the neck, and perfectly encapsulates his uppity, authoritarian nature, whilst also making us pity him somewhat during the dying embers of the final act. Additionally, the dynamic built between Parker and Morrissey, as our husband/wife come mutual victim pairing, is both believably defective and almost outlandishly farcical, and between the pair of them this is perfectly graded as the action continunously jumps back and forth in time.

Not taking into consideration the epilogue, which felt out of place, was poorly balanced, and was a touch redundant safe for giving us closure over Isobel's final moments, this is a pretty extraordinary take on an ancient tale, reinvigorating the plight of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and their family's descent into insanity. It is no mystery why, thousands of years later, these ancient works of theatre are still spellbinding audiences the world over, and Stone's expert, almost perfect reimagining is a testament to their inherent malleability and adaptability.

★★★★☆ (4*)

"The Oresteia" runs at the Bridge Theatre until the 19th of September (tickets)