Stage preview: ‘Living a weird and directed life’ in Sophocles’ ‘Electra’

When producer/artistic director Jim Svendsen was considering possibilities for this year's Classical Greek Theatre Festival production, he faced a dilemma. One of the plays he wanted to do was Sophocles' "Electra." In its 45-year history, the festival had never performed it, and Svendsen thought it was "a really well-constructed play," an almost perfect revenge tragedy.

He also knew you need a strong Electra "to drive the show."

"It's one of the densest, most complex, demanding roles in all of Greek tragedy," he says. "The lows are so low — she really hits rock bottom — and then, within a few minutes, she's on top of the world … so there's just that gamut of emotion."

Svendsen wanted Larry West to direct, and West had an immediate solution to the problem. He was directing Pinnacle Acting Company's production of Donald Margulies' "Time Stands Still" at the time and thought Melanie Nelson would be perfect for Electra. Svendsen came to see the show and enthusiastically agreed, as did Nelson.

"It felt like a good match to me," she says.

Nelson even sees a link between Electra and Sarah, the photojournalist she portrayed in "Time Stands Still." They have the same "toughness and willingness to go to whatever lengths they need to for the thing that they want." In Electra's case, that's to avenge the murder of her father, Agamemnon, by her mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. Electra has been waiting 10 long years for her brother, Orestes, to return from exile and help her accomplish this deed.

The production is using a new translation by Marianne McDonald that Svendsen describes as "very American." At the same time, McDonald has retained traditional Greek words, especially the sounds of grief, and West's approach builds on that Greek flavor. He remembers being fascinated when he was in Greece that every historical site was under repair, "so you had columns that were surrounded by scaffolding, and it was that wonderful juxtaposition between the old and the new." Spencer Brown's set duplicates that contrasting image, and Erin West's costumes also encompass multiple Greek styles and time periods. "It's this sense of Greece from the old to contemporary," West says.

The production is also multigenerational. This will be Svendsen's last show as producer (he will stay on as artistic director and dramaturg), so West decided he wanted the directors from the last dozen productions to act in this one. Sandy Shotwell was already committed to Salt Lake Acting Company, but Barbara Smith is playing Clytemnestra and Hugh Hanson is the tutor. Seasoned actors like Nelson, Smith and Hanson can't help but inspire and raise the level of the production's student actors.

The three-member chorus also represents different generations of Greek women. West describes them as "kind of out of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding,' " the popular 2002 film, with Betsy West as the grandmother figure.

Abby Scott is creating original music for the production, and there is Greek dancing, choreographed by Stephanie Peterson. West sees the tutor as "a Zorba the Greek kind of character — a bigger-than-life storyteller, and there's a line in 'Zorba' that says, 'It was the dancing — only the dancing that stopped the pain.' "

As expected, Nelson has found portraying Electra challenging but very rewarding. She has a number of lengthy monologues, and although the translation "tries to find some very contemporary moments that people in 2015 can relate to," she says, there are a number of classic images and allusions that she feels she needs to make familiar and meaningful to the audience.

She has especially enjoyed collaborating with West on developing Electra's character.

"He is a really great director for actors," she says. "When you come in with ideas, he rarely says no, and I love that because I'm at a stage in my acting career where I come in with ideas. Before rehearsals even started, I feel like we both were on the same page with what Electra's journey was supposed to be. She doesn't really flow from one moment to the next. She's like a laser — one thing, and then another thing, and then another. I think 10 years of waiting for your brother to come back and having one thing on your mind — that's a decade of living a weird and directed life."

"Electra," added Svendsen, has something for everyone: a dysfunctional family, conflict, revenge, even unexpected humor. After 45 years of performing Greek drama, he says it's exciting to find a fresh, contemporary take on a very old story with a compelling heroine at its center.

But mostly, he says with a laugh, "I just love the show because it's so Greek."

—

'Electra'

Westminster College presents "Electra," the 45th installment of the country's longest-running Classical Greek Theatre Festival, in several Utah venues. In Sophocles' classic story, an obsessed young woman and her brother set out to avenge the murder of their father by their mother and her lover. Dramaturg Jim Svendsen conducts an orientation lecture 30 minutes before each performance.

Tickets • $15, $7 for students; the West Valley City performance is free. For information and tickets, see www.westminstercollege.edu/greek_theatre.

Salt Lake City

When • Friday and Saturday, Sept. 4-5, and Sept. 11-12, 7:30 p.m.

Where • Jay W. Lees Courage Theatre, Westminster College, 1250 E. 1700 South, Salt Lake City

When • Sept. 26 and 27, 9 a.m.

Where • Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City

West Valley City

When • Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m.

Where • Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 W. 3100 South, West Valley City

Provo

When • Sept. 21, 5 p.m.

Where • DeJong Concert Hall, Brigham Young University, Provo

Ogden

When • Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m.

Where • Wildcat Theatre, Weber State University, Ogden