Two more points of view on the story of Euripides'
Iphigenia at Aulis at the
Gate as part of
The Iphigenia Quartet; you can read my review of
Iphigenia and
Chorus here, but tonight Caroline Bird gets arguably the
toughest job, of trying to see things from the perspective of
Agamemnon.
Although it's his brother whose wife has been abducted, Agamemnon (Andrew French) is
leading the Greek charge to get her back, and is therefore the man in the spotlight.
Bird focuses on him not as a bloodthirsty villain but as a rather weak man buffeted
by circumstance and unable or unwilling to stand up to it. As the play begins he's
consented to the sacrifice of his daughter but changed his mind, sending a letter to
his wife telling her to stay away. It's too late, of course, and besides the
Messenger (Louise McMenemy) is brutally pragmatic about the Greek cause and makes
sure the letter doesn't reach Clytemnestra.
