(photo by Trudi Lee)
Euripides, Redux
by Lucy Wells
The Tarragon Theatre is currently in its last show of the season, Hawksley Workman and Christian Barry’s The God That Comes, produced by 2b Theatre Company. A one-man cabaret of Euripides’ Bacchae, this is a stirring and often hilarious work.
Hawksley Workman is in fine form as he narrates the story, as well as playing the king, the king’s mother, and the god Bacchus. Workman changes characters by making minimal costume changes, putting on a hat or a boa; and by changing his voice, whether by switching registers (he sings in a lovely falsetto as the mother), or by singing into a megaphone (as the militaristic king). To reinforce the changing characters, three mannequin heads along the back of the stage are lit in turn to suggest who’s singing. It’s a helpful touch, and Workman is effective in acting out the different roles – I might normally have found this constant shifting of characters rather difficult to follow, but I had no problem here.
