First, I’ve just got to mention that a good part of the audience at The Love of the Nightingale left during intermission. That’s funny, I thought, because I kinda liked this play. It’s such a good story–all about love, lust, rape, and honor, a modern twist on Greek tragedy written by one of England’s leading playwrights, Timberlake Wertenbaker. But some didn’t care enough to find out how the story ended.
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I’ll admit it’s not an easy play to get into. Even at its most gory, it doesn’t jump off the stage and grab your guts. Nor does it seek to amuse, delight, or otherwise titillate. Actually, it’s pretty didactic. But Wertenbaker’s language is as clear as a mountain stream, and Next Theatre’s production, under the direction of Amy Landecker, proves to be fresh, thoughtful, and quietly entertaining.
Once Tereus is in Athens the trouble begins. He becomes tormented by love for the nubile Philomele, who flirts innocently with her new “brother” while watching a performance of Phaedra. Throughout her script, Wertenbaker creates a foreboding sense of tragedy–even the staging of Phaedra spells doom. Like the classical Greek writers, Wertenbaker uses a chorus to comment on the action and move it forward: “Philomele wonders at the beauty of the sea,” they announce once Tereus’ ship has set sail for home. “Tereus wonders at Philomele’s beauty.”
