Electra was set up in-the-round. The characters switched positions which was effective for this stage format. The set was grey, and very minimalistic. The set had quite a few nature elements to it - a tall tree trunk, a fire place, stones and dust.
The opening was sudden, with little lighting. This created an eerie atmosphere. It was a scene between Orestes and The Old Man, who plot the plan of faking Orestes' death. I noticed that Orestes used his hands a lot, like pointing sharply and gesturing his hands during conversation, in order to express himself and sometimes emphasise the point he's making.
Electra enters, doing a lot of movement in silence, prior to the dialogue. Majority of the time she remains on the floor, which represents how low (weak) she's feeling, because of her father's death. We learn quickly that Electra is a very honest and open character. How weak she is feeling is so clear, creating sympathy amongst the audience.
Next, we meet the chorus - 3 virgins of the palace. They are dressed mainly in navy, and appear much slicker and cleaner than Electra, who is scruffy and in a washed-out raggy dress, wearing no shoes. At first, the chorus are stood over Electra, which suggests they're stronger emotionally, and thinking more rationally than Electra. Throughout the show, these 3 act as the onlookers.
Electra's sister - Chrysothemis - presents another contrast between Electra and another character. The contrast is physically presented through costume and hair. Electra's sister is in clothes that suggest wealth, as she wears a clean dress with gold detail, jewellery and shoes. The inclusion of gold makes her also appear quite regal.
The lighting gets brighter when things begin to look up for Electra - when her sister agrees to the plan. Whereas, when there is praying to Apollo, the light becomes a lot darker, creating a much more serious mood.
Electra's mother comes across as a wicked-like character, who shows no remourse. On the other hand, we see this wicked woman slightly descend when she hears news of Orestes' death. The death reignites the tension between Electra and her mother.
Throughout the play, serious moments tend to come across comical. Kristen Scott Thomas' hystericalness was highly believable. Something about the serious moments I didn't like was that the actor was never alone on stage. For example, Electra's speech when first attaining her brother's ashes, with the 3 virgins and her brother on the edges. I think this moment needed to be performed as a solilioquy, so there was more of a personal moment between actor and audience.
The scene between Electra and Orestes, which we performed in our first audition workshop was similar to the way many of us interpreted it - particularly the hug they share, which came across as heartwarming, and the first real moment of happiness in show. In this version, the language was modernised and there were more comedic incidents, like the dropping of the brother's ashes and Electra's realisation, making her want to sniff Orestes.
At the end of the play, there was no visual of the murder committed, only sounds (screams) and the aftermath. The aftermath was reflected with Orestes and the Old Man's bloody hands. Also, the body was carried onstage hidden in a blanket, and only a fraction of the mother's corpse was shown, which was deadly and pale.
Class recap
- The door in Electra acted as the traditional 'skene' in Greek Theatre.
- The floor was sandy, which represented Greece's weather.
- Whilst it was a modern theatre in which they employed theatrical lighting, they attempted to replicate everyday external light states - natural.
- All of the play was based outside.
- No use of song and dance. The inclusion of song and dance is a tradition in Greek Theatre, so an absence of this was odd.
- Electra (actress) and Mum were near enough the same age - weird casting choice.
- Time passing was unclear.
- 'If someone hurts your Father, the son will grow up and evenge' - this was a belief by Greek society, hence why it was all down to Orestes. A modern day version of this belief is the Mafia and their ways.
- The stepdad spoke in stacatto, which juxtaposed to all of the other characters. He is high status. He came across as weird and awkward, like the King in Medea. His costume was slightly pantomime, and not appropriate in my opinion.
Things I'd change
1) More solilioquys
2) Different male costumes - more in line with the females.
3) Tension heightened for death scene
4) Age casting
5) More of the chorus
6) Orestes needs to be more determined.
7) Paced better - the ending was too quick.
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