Shadow, light fill 'Oresteia'

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Music, myth and immortals converge in Constellation Theatre Company's ambitious and well-intentioned production of Aeschylus' "The Oresteia" trilogy.

First produced in 458 B.C., "The Oresteia" — containing "Agamemnon," "The Libation Bearers" and "The Eumenides" — combines oft-told yarns about the glories of the Trojan War, tales of horror from the blood-spackled House of Atreus, and apocryphal stories about the founding of the Athenian legal system that involve the Furies — the supernatural kind — with the goddess Athena playing judge and the god Apollo serving as an Attic version of friend of the court.

Using Robert Fagles' graceful verse translation, adapter and director Allison Arkell Stockman compresses what once was a very long day at the amphitheater into less than three hours of high-minded drama and dance — greatly enhanced by Tom Teasley's original world music — that depict a society moving from violence and chaotic vendetta to a civilization dedicated to the principles of justice and civic order.

The progression from primitive darkness into light is reflected in the look of the three plays, which begin in deep shadow (all of the murders are depicted in silhouette) and gradually move into the unsparing light of a courtroom, and also through the stylized movement, which starts off pulsing and rhythmic before evolving into more intricate and stately patterns.

The actions and emotions of "The Oresteia" can be summed up in the lines sung by the chorus: "We must suffer, suffer into truth." From the first play, "Agamemnon," suffering rains down as the humans either succumb to or rail against a chain of cursed events in the House of Atreus that began with one man's novel approach to learning of his wife committing adultery with his brother (cook his brother's sons and serve them to his sibling).

The mayhem went on to include the impetus for the Trojan War (Helen of Troy) and countless examples of kin-killing from the likes of Clytemnestra (hacked war-hero husband Agamemnon with an ax — and his concubine Cassandra for good measure — for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia to ensure victory in the Trojan War); Orestes (killed his mother Clytemnestra for murdering his father), and Electra (protected brother Orestes so he could come back years later and kill mother and her lover, Aegisthus).

The up-and-coming Constellation Theatre Company's production of "The Oresteia" illustrates the glories and pitfalls of such a far-reaching effort. The large cast of 29 varies widely in technical ability — in vocal and physical control — and the results are often distractingly uneven. The macho vindictiveness of Nanna Ingvarsson's Clytemnestra provides chills, as do Jennifer Crooks as the sinuous and otherworldly oracle Cassandra, Nick DePinto as a commanding and detached Apollo, and the relaxed menace of Joe Brack's Orestes.

"The Oresteia" vividly shows that endless retribution does not accomplish anything — except angering the gods. It also explores the meaning in violence, asking whether murder is ever justifiable.

**1/2

WHAT: "The Oresteia," by Aeschylus, translation by Robert Fagles, adapted and directed by Allison Arkell Stockman

WHERE: Constellation Theatre Company at the Clark Street Playhouse, 601 S. Clark St., Arlington

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Through June 1.

TICKETS: $12 to $20

PHONE: 800/494-8497

WEB SITE: www.constellationtheatre.org

MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS