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| Sophie Melville in IPHIGENIA IN SPLOTT. Photo by Mark Douet. |
In
Greek mythology, Iphigenia was sacrificed by her father, King Agamemnon, in
order to placate the goddess Artemis, so that she would allow his ships to sail
to Troy. And it is that myth which
inspired Gary Owen to write Iphigenia in
Splott – the British play that scored such a resounding success in Cardiff
and Edinburgh before opening to rave reviews and playing to sold-out audiences in
London’s National Theatre. Now the play
has crossed the pond, debuting at 59E59 Theatres on East 59th Street in midtown
Manhattan as part of this year’s Brits Off Broadway program and I have little
doubt that American audiences will embrace it just as enthusiastically.
This
is an extraordinary one-woman show, starring Sophie Melville as Effie, an irrepressible
potty-mouthed “stupid slag” and “nasty skank” (to use her own words) who, often
as not, can be found wandering the streets of Splott in Cardiff, with an
“in-your-face” confrontational attitude toward everyone she meets. In an incredibly powerful monologue, she lets
us know in no uncertain terms that she is an alcoholic and a drug-user; that
she is irresponsibly promiscuous; that she is dependent for her survival, at
least in part, on her grandmother’s charity – and that she feels a sense of
victimization at the hands of society about it all.
When
Effie hooks up with Lee, a wounded war veteran who lost his legs to an IED in
Afghanistan, she envisions her life changing dramatically. But things don’t always turn out as one expects
and the night Effie spent shagging Lee was just one of those things. Yes, it affected her life deeply – just not
as she imagined it would.
As
a theatrical performance, Ms Melville leaves nothing to be desired. She is physically as lithe as a feral cat and
exhibits a comparable animal spirit. Hers
is a performance that truly deserves five stars.
But
as to the play itself, and the message it seeks to convey, that is an entirely
different matter. It appears to me that Gary
Owen is championing a world in which a sense of entitlement justifies
individual irresponsibility and a reliance on “society” to fix everything and,
since “society” didn’t fix everything for Effie, she was just as much a
sacrificial victim as was Iphigenia. But the analogy is a false one. Iphigenia was sacrificed by her father for his
own failing (it was he who accidentally killed a deer in a grove sacred to
Artemis for which he sought absolution, not through his own sacrifice but
through that of his daughter). But Effie
has brought all her troubles on herself: “society” did not force her to drink
or do drugs or engage in unprotected sex with strangers. Her crises are of her own making, not of
anyone else’s, and no sacrifice she might ultimately make as a consequence of
her own misbehavior is comparable to Iphigenia’s.
I
am well aware that many people disagree with me, that they prefer to blame
“society” or “the man” or “the system” or “Wall Street” or “the top 1%” or
anyone other than themselves for their problems. Indeed, the press release itself for this
production asserts that the play “drives home the high price people pay for
society’s shortcomings.” In his review
of the National Theatre’s production for The
Stage, Tom Wicker described the play as “a blisteringly powerful indictment
of society’s failings….” And Lyn
Gardner, in her review for The Guardian,
wrote: “Iphigenia was Agamemnon’s
daughter, sacrificed by her father to ensure a fair wind to Troy and to further
the ambitions of men. But who are the
Iphigenias of today, being sacrificed in the pursuit of growth and profit? Seeing the heart torn out of your community
and services cut is like having your tongue put out.”
If
you happen to fall into that group of those who blame “society” for all their problems
(I hope you don’t), then you will probably enjoy this production even more
because, in addition to its being a bravura performance by a superb actress, it
will reinforce your communal political philosophy. But even if you don’t, if (like me), you
still believe in individuals taking responsibility for their own lives, you’re
still likely to appreciate Ms Melville’s terrific performance.
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