Director Charlie Oates’ version of “Seven Against Thebes” — based on the third play in Aeschylus’ Oedipus trilogy, and running as the current headliner at the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre — falls simplistic and hokey in its attempt to reimagine the famous drama about a divided Grecian family. In the original, Oedipus’ two sons’ fight for control of Thebes — told through a series of dramatic monologues, performed by Theban citizens and the city’s ruler, Eteocles. The drama is meant to culminate in an all-out brawl between Eteocles and his exiled brother Polynices, taking the piece on a thought-provoking foray into the morality of war.
For his rendition, however, Oates uproots and replants the plot in Civil War-era Kentucky. To complicate things even further, the play was directly translated from the original Greek by theater professor Marianne McDonald — meaning the script brims with references to Greek gods and locations that have nothing to do with the American South.
While the brother-vs.-brother and divided-nation themes mesh well with the new setting, the play never justifies the random displacement of mythological heroes, polytheistic deities and a besieged ancient city. What’s more, a lack of sufficient plot buildup leaves the audience wondering why an exiled brother would even want to fight for control of the gaunt, dirty and poverty-stricken people who live there in the first place. The play grows increasingly disjointed as actors in filthy rags and lean-tos rattle off lengthy speeches about their nonexistent “city” in twangy Southern accents.
That’s not to say that the rural setting isn’t compelling. Setting the stage with familiar bluegrass tune “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow,” the play’s soundtrack mimics that of another retelling of an ancient Greek saga: the Coen brothers’ “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Still, while the gospel injects some much-needed energy into the drama, there remains a distinct undercurrent of melancholy that keeps the action serious.
Sadly, the music is not enough to make “Thebes” come to life. Made up almost entirely of monologues, the play lacks any actual movement. Only the messenger — played by Christopher James Cortez with acrobatic gusto — breaks up the monotony of the stage directions.
Somewhere between ancient Greece, Kentucky and UCSD, “Thebes” lost the edge that makes it the quintessential depiction of power struggle to this day. Aeschylus’ meta-commentary on violence and the human condition may still ring true, but Oates abandons his audience in the Bluegrass State with nothing but straw to chew on.
