"Molora" - Greek Tragedy in South Africa ...
Theater Review - Eric Shapiro - 7-8-2011 - NYC Off-Broadway
Yael Farber’s Molora (through July 24 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, Clinton; (866) 811-4111) is certainly one of the more unique Off Broadway productions to come along this season. An adaptation of Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy set in post-apartheid South Africa, this powerful and imaginative retelling of the classic Greek tragedy is a must-see for the more experimental contingent of NYC theatergoers. For those unfamiliar with the epic (and for once, the descriptor is well-deserved) tale, Oresteia chronicles the fatally dysfunctional relationships among a Greek royal family.
The blood starts flowing when Agamemnon, King of Argos, sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to the Gods in the hopes that they will grant him victory in the Trojan War, unwittingly setting in motion a cycle of vengeance that will spatter his family tree in blood. Enraged by the sacrifice of her beloved daughter, Queen Clytemnestra murders her husband and marries his brother Aegis thus. Determined to protect her brother, the last of Agamemnon’s line, from a similar fate, daughter Electra spirits the infant away in the hopes that he will return one day to wreak vengeance on the treacherous queen. And that’s pretty much where Molora picks up. Farber treats the audience to the bloodcurdling spectacle of Electra’s torture at the hands of Clytemnestra, who uses all the sadistic means at her disposal to discover her son’s whereabouts. The travails of Aeschylus’ rich characters are bound to resonate in any context, reflective as they are of timeless human dilemmas. The cast members competently portray Oresteis key players, eliciting the required emotional responses from the audience but providing little in the way of surprises. However, the true star of the show is the Ngqoko Cultural Group, a quintet of Xhosa musicians who fill the role of chorus, accompanying the play’s proceedings with sparse South African instrumentation and eerily beautiful tribal harmonies. Chiming in at key moments throughout the production, these talented older women (and one man, mysteriously attired in a business suit and bowler hat) cast a hypnotic spell over the audience, channeling and giving form to our emotional reactions with their droning, minimalist accompaniment. They are play’s heart and soul, forcing audience members to stay invested even though they likely know how the story ends.
The Ngqoko Cultural Group, coupled with clever staging and use of props, make an age-old tale interesting again, and for that it deserves credit. Alas, despite the quality of the production as a whole, Farber never adequately justifies her audacious comparison of an ancient Greek myth to post-apartheid South Africa. Historically, the two situations could not be more different, and any thematic parallels collapse under close scrutiny. Farber does not explain the play’s central conceit beyond some vague notions of giving up vengeance. Anyone who goes to see Molora expecting an intelligent meditation on recent historical events will be disappointed. Oresteia does not illuminate Farber’s intended message; if anything, it distracts from it, simplifying and thereby cheapening a historical event to hammer on a banal thematic platitude. Fortunately, as a pure theatrical experience, Molora is satisfying and completely unique. Farber breathes new life into a tried-and-true tale, in the process broadening the audience’s cultural palette with the seamless incorporation of traditional South African music and attire.