Ajax

by Sophocles

Translated by Robert Cannon

Directed by Jack Shepherd

Riverside Studios

20 May – 19 July 2009

y Couzen

A review by Colette Gunn-Graffy for EXTRA! EXTRA!

Believed to be one of Sophocles’ earliest works, the tragedy of Ajax centres on a hero of the Trojan War, who, although mighty in battle, is brought down by his own pride and shame. The story is this: after Achilles is slain, his armour is awarded to Odysseus rather than the Greek warrior Ajax. Enraged, Ajax sets out to kill the leaders of his army, but is bewitched by the goddess Athena so that he butchers a herd of cattle instead. Awaking from the spell, Ajax is so overcome with shame he kills himself.

Whilst the story itself seems simple, the motivations of its characters are not. Part of ensemble theatre company Love & Madness’s exploration of ‘men who kill’ (a season of four plays, which also includes Macbeth, Martin Mc Donagh’s A Skull in Connemara and a devised piece), Ajax is compelling for its depiction of a soldier torn between a code of honour that makes perfect sense on the battlefield and the demands of family and society.

In order to emphasise this dilemma, director Jack Shepherd relocates the play to the time of the First World War, hoping to ‘make connections between the attritional struggle of the Trojan War, and the more recent horror of trench warfare’. Although the action of the play is confined to a dingy bunker with moulding walls (excellent set design by Nicky Bunch), offstage battle noises are a constant presence. The atmosphere is claustrophobic and bleak; outside this space, lives are being lost and men horrifically injured for a cause so far removed as to be forgettable.

Whilst Shepherd’s production is filled with big ideas, some of them exciting, few of them seem to get very far. A fantastically spooky opening scene between Odysseus (Dan Mullane) and a levitating Athena (Jody Watson) sets a dark and supernatural tone that is quickly overwhelmed by the entrance of bleeding soldiers and never recreated. Similarly, Shepherd’s idea of creating a more ‘naturalistic’ chorus by dividing the lines among individual characters bears promise; unfortunately, lax direction means the text often feels diluted and difficult to follow. Even the setting is underused. Aside from period costumes (and a note in the programme), there is little to indicate that the ongoing conflict surrounding the play is actually the First World War. (My understanding of the physical realities of trench warfare owe more to reading All Quiet on the Western Front than to watching this production.)

Shepherd’s real concern is on the grand impotence of the soldiers carrying out their leaders’ ‘dirty work’. After all, Ajax’s main bone of contention is simply that in the aftermath of a battle in which he proved himself the most valuable warrior, he should be slighted and forgotten by those in charge. Like so many who fought in and endured the horrors of the Great War (and indeed, all modern wars), Ajax (Iarla McGowan) is both disillusioned and suffering from post-traumatic stress (shell shock). Only after his suicide do we meet his commanders, the buffoonish Menelaus (John Giles) and aggressive Agamemnon (Dan Mullane), whose primary concern is that their inferiors should respect them and follow orders, which is why they are refusing Ajax’s body burial.

With his wild eyes and earnest face, Iarla McGowan well-becomes the fallen hero, choking on his shame. His intensity is nicely contrasted by Michael Sim as Odysseus, who comes across as a cool and rational diplomat. As Techmessa, however, Lucia McAnespie feels strangely miscast; a strong, throaty actress, she comes across as Ajax’s equal, rather than his slave-wife (she plays Lady Macbeth as well this season), making her continued acquiescence feel unbelievable.

If destiny is indeed a net woven by the gods and set down by army commanders, it is perhaps not so difficult to understand Ajax’s self-destructive impulse. Still, this production leaves one feeling there was more that could have been said.

May – 26th to 30th; June – 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 13th, 24th, 25th;
July – 11th, 15th, 22nd, 25th @ 7:30pm
July – 5th, 16th, 19th @ 2:00pm

Tickets £17 / £13 concessions / £9 for school groups of 15+

Box Office: 020 8237 1111; www.riversidestudios.co.uk

Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 9RL

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