Where mythology meets history, wars were fought; the Greeks, the Trojans, the Amazons. It is sometimes hard to tell who won and what was gained, the lines have been drawn and redrawn so many times. Most remembered are the ones most written about and usually focus on individual battles or warriors. We love them less for the history and more for the fiction that has arisen.
Most people know the story of Helen of Troy and the Trojan horse. The battle and love story of Penthesilea and Achilles is a more recently written love story. In fiction, the battles are mostly backdrop.
Penthesilea is the queen of the Amazons, an all-female society. The Amazons cannot choose whom they battle or whom they mate with; the one can only follow the other. The Amazons are warring against the Greeks, who are led by Achilles. When the two meet on the battlefield, war and passion is the result.
There proves to be the issue of who has been defeated. Both believing that they are the victor, a fiery relationship explodes. It is this consuming passion that is at the heart of this story.
Heinrich von Kleist’s 1808 Penthesilea is the basis of this production. Translated by Gerrit Komrij and adapted by director Eline Arbo and dramaturg Bart Van der Eynde, it is performed in Dutch with English surtitles. Keeping up with the surtitles is a little distracting. But, if all of this feels a little too removed, the audience is startlingly surprised.
As the casts moves around the stage and lines up at the opening, we are aware that something unique is about to happen. This stark stage is dressed only with musical instruments and a few stark set pieces that float up and down. Although the text is in Dutch, the music in English accents the action. The production stays one step ahead of the audience in expectations.
This is a breathtaking production headed by director Eline Arbo and a surprisingly small army of nine actor-musicians. The two leads, Penthesilea and Achilles, are well matched and powerful performers. This production leads the charge of new ways that theatre is evolving. It is fresh, exciting. Kudos to the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, these performers and the entire production team.