Our Ajax
Southwark
Playhouse, November 29, 2013
A
three-sided stage filled with sand, with a sand-colored plain muslin backdrop
and barbed-wire along the walls greats audiences as they walk into Southwark
Playhouse’s new adaptation and translation of Sophocles’ Tragedy of Ajax. In
the original Greek Tragedy, Ajax has spent most of the Trojan war in
competition with Odysseus, and when Odysseus is promoted and recognized above
him, he goes made with rage and attempts to kill all the Generals of the Greek
Army, including Odysseus. Athena, Protector of Odysseus, plays with Ajax’s
mind, causing him to confuse sheep with men and he instead massacres and a herd
of poor sheep. Early on in Sophocles’ play, Ajax is killed and then his men
spend the rest of the play fighting with Menelaus and Agamemnon for the right
to bury their commander. Southwark Playhouse decided to do things a little
different in their adaption.
Our Ajax is set in Afghanistan, during a
time when English and American soldiers are working together, based on the
uniforms and iPhones, and dialogue, we can assumed that it is set in a
fictional world where a war is still raging for the UK in the middle east. Like
in the Original Greek Tragedy, Athena plays with the mind of Ajax, but instead
of being referred to as Athena, she is just called ‘God’ by the soldiers, a
modern way of maintaining the idea of ‘God-control’ while simultaneously
straying from the now outdated polytheistic Ancient Greek Religion. Ajax storms
in at the top of the play with two bloody sheep’s carcasses, believing that he
has taken his revenge and killed Odysseus. Through the play, he and rages and transgresses
back into sanity, reassuring his wife and soldiers that he will put everything
to right. But once he is alone, Ajax ‘makes everything right’ by ending his
life. The last quarter of the play consists of English soldiers and an American
General arguing over whether or not to send the body back with honors or to
leave it because of his crimes.
Lasting only 100 minutes, Southwark Playhouse’s production of Our Ajax does not fit the
bill of a traditional Greek Tragedy as one might expect. This is actually one
of the best qualities of this
adaptation, Timberlake
Wertenbaker wrote a fantastic script that strays just enough to fit perfectly
into our modern era. Male and female soldiers, cell phones and video, a
wonderful scene of celebration with the three main soldiers dancing to ‘Ceiling
Can’t Hold Us’. This show was fit so well into our lives, I daresay most of the
audience forgot they were watching a play originally written and performed
thousands of years ago.
It’s
not one of my favorite plays, the extreme blood thirst of Ajax, not just in
this production but in the script, is more than a little disturbing for my
taste. This cast did well in their roles, committed and entrenched, I enjoyed
their performances – especially the three soldiers who added a nice touch of
comedy to this heavy plot. Timberlake Wertenbaker
did a wonderful job of cutting out the outdated material, updating the dialogue
and subject matter and even drawing out more dramatic elements while truncating
the less relevant moments. As far as my personal experience with this play,
this is the best translation that I’ve come into contact with yet. If you’ve
already read a translation of the original, I would next take a look at this
script for a fantastic example of modern adaptation.
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