Hundred Days

C

Even though it received favorable reviews when it was presented at the Under the Radar Festival last winter, I would not have seen this show if it had not turned up on my New York Theatre Workshop subscription. Taste in music is very personal and I thought it very unlikely that the folk-punk genre would strike a chord with me. Alas, I was right. Although The Bengsons (Iphigenia in Aulis), singer/songwriters Abigail and Shaun, who composed the music and perform it along with the other four musicians in their band — Colette Alexander, Jo Lampert, Dani Markham and Reggie D. White — are appealing and talented performers, the format of the work is unsatisfactory. The book they wrote with Sarah Gancher is basically a song cycle interrupted by dialog. At a crucial point in the evening there is a long stretch of dialog where I would have expected music to carry the emotional thrust, as if they mistrusted the expressive power of their music to get the job done. To my senior ears, the music was much too loud and percussive and the lyrics were occasionally hard to decipher. The somewhat confusing story involves Abigail’s recurring dream since adolescence that she will meet the man of her dreams, but he will soon die, leading to the idea that they must live as if they only have 100 days to share. The scenic design by Kris Stone and Andrew Hungersford involves about 100 old-fashioned twisted yellow incandescent bulbs that go up and down plus a few vertical fluorescent bulbs that do the same. The costumes by Sydney Gallas are appropriately punk. Anne Kauffmann (Mary Jane, Marvin’s Room) directed. The audience reaction was rather subdued. Running time: 80 minutes, no intermission.

Iphigenia in Aulis **

This production of Euripides’s final play, the centerpiece of Classic Stage Company’s Greek Festival, is a decidedly mixed bag. The text is a “transadaptation” (her word, not mine) by Anne Washburn (Mr. Burns and 10 out of 12) that throws in a few modern words like “dynamite” and “centrifuge” for no particular reason. Director Rachel Chavkin (Preludes and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) has doubled roles so that there are three actors playing the seven parts in addition to a mixed-gender chorus of seven, dressed as if on their way to a Carmen Miranda look-alike contest. They sing rock songs by The Bengsons and dance vigorously to choreography by Sonya Tayeh. I would comment on the lyrics, but I was unable to make out most of them. Rob Campbell initially shouts too much as Agamemnon, but is stirring in the later scenes. As Achilles, he seems to be aiming for a mixture of Harvey Keitel and Donald Trump. Amber Gray (Oklahoma! at Bard, Natasha, Pierre…) is a fierce Clytemnestra, but having her also play Menelaus was a bad idea. Kristen SIeh, in addition to the title character, plays an old man and a messenger. As Iphigenia, her transition from rage against her fate to acceptance seemed too abrupt. The elegantly simple scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado depicts a tent and forest in the background with a bare square platform in front. There is a lovely stage effect at the end. Except for the incongruous costumes for the chorus, Normandy Sherwood’s costumes are tasteful. The thrust of the play survives, but this production’s innovations are not improvements. Running time: one hour, 40 minutes; no intermission.

NOTE: The performance was marred by cellphones ringing not just once or twice, but FOUR times, a record I hope I never see broken. The last two times it was clearly the same phone and the culprit, apparently too embarrassed to be identified, let the phone ring — at least twelve rings each time. Both of these occurrences were at key moments of the play when concentration was essential. I don’t know how the actors kept their cool. It was most disruptive.