Ellen McLaughlin

I really enjoyed these versions. McLaughlin has adapted rather than translated the plays, and she does so in a very accessible way. These are not scholarly works, but plays that can actually be performed, that leap off the page in song and light and speech. "Iphigenia and other Daughters" is raw, horrible, full of truth and darkness. Finally Chrysothemis has a voice, a role, between her power-bound mother and mad sister. And Iphigenia, sweet child, virgin statue. Beautiful. "The Trojan Women" is a harrowing play no matter how it’s retold. But this one was made for refugee women, for Serbs and Croats who fled from fallen cities. Their pain is here writ large; their own loss and fear and their very personal burning Troy. "Helen" is an odd play, even in the original version. It’s bleak somehow, playing with the revelation that the war has been fought for nothing. This version expands on that thought, makes Helen a victim of not just her beauty, but her expectations of what that means, of how she should be. Watching her slowly break free of that world is revelatory. "Lysistrata" is, unsurprisingly, pretty low-brow. It's the only one of these plays I didn't enjoy. I think I’ll stick with the tragedies. "The Persians" is a powerful play. This is the first version I’ve read, so I’m not sure how many liberties the author’s taken with the original, but it’s certainly quite effective. Most interesting because I’ve recently read a history of the Greco-Persian wars, so I have a good grounding in the back story. Lastly, "Oedipus" is a study on the terrible indifference of the Greek Gods. Cursed from birth, for nothing he's done, and made to live with the horror forced on him by Fate.… (altro)