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Helen.,with that terse little dot at the end, is a manifesto of a title.
It says:There is no of Troy.
I am not the cause or the crux of your war.
I am only myself.
Its all in the journey, she says, I have direction.
Perhaps theyre even true, but direction without depth makes for a pretty flat line.
demands her husband, Menelaus (Jackie Rivera).
She wanted to leave, and then she left, Klaitemestra replies.
This is both enjoyable its nice to be entertained and frustrating.
Why, in this project of female liberation, must the men still get all the best bits?
So theyre stupid, fine theyre still stealing (and in this case,reallystealing) the show.
Must freedom from domestic servitude and misogynist narratives preclude humor?
Klaitemestra: The next day
Helen: Yesterday was
Timandra: Tomorrow is a new day.
Helen: But which day is it?
Timandra: Joy in work.
Klaitemestra: A job well done.
Timandra: Never half do a job.
Helen: Tomorrow is
Klaitemestra: Kitchen.
Helen: Oh, the cupboards.
Their mythos might be cut down to size, but they remain creatures of surface.
Eventually, Hekuba turns into a dog.
ThroughoutHelen., they add the kind of dimension, both comic and tragic, that the play so needs.
In their performance, one senses the potential for a weirder, wider-ranging, more truly chaotic journey.
Its no easy feat.
In LieblichsMahinerator, Mellor plays a nameless bureaucrat in an ever more nauseating version of the apocalyptic future.
Helen.is at LaMaMa through October 29.Mahineratoris at the Tank through October 22.
