WHEN a playwright like Charles L. Mee gets hold of one of the Greek classics, rest assured the result is unlike anything seen in ancient amphitheaters.
“Iphigenia 2.0,” his reworking of a Euripides play, goes the usual deconstruction route, featuring a mishmash of visual, verbal, musical and theatrical effects that are predictable only in their unpredictability.
But since this work, which opened last night at the Signature Theatre Company, deals with the agonizing decision of Agamemnon (Tom Nelis) to sacrifice his beloved daughter Iphigenia (Louisa Krause) before setting off for the Trojan War, the contemporary relevance isn’t hard to discern.
One suspects Jenna and Barbara Bush probably wouldn’t want to attend anytime soon.
Those who do see it won’t be bored unless they’ve sat through one too many of these sorts of things before. From the hunky soldiers who strip down to their skivvies for an athletic hip-hop routine, to the beautiful if vapid bridesmaids who strip down to their skivvies for some “Girls Gone Wild” hijinks – with a lot of “Zorba the Greek”-style dancing in between – there’s plenty of divertissement onstage.
As for the main business at hand, we have anguished confrontations between the guilt-ridden leader and his imperious wife, Clytemnestra (Kate Mulgrew), who’d rather find some other way to appease the gods.
Director Tina Landau, who’s often collaborated with Mee, is by now well-versed on producing the desired effects, so the 90-minute piece moves quickly and has plenty of visceral moments. There’s no denying the power of its final scene, when the consequences of Agamemnon’s decision become all too clear. But this vaude-
ville-style approach to the Greek classics ultimately feels more reductive than revelatory.
IPHIGENIA 2.0Peter Norton Space, 555 W. 42nd St.; (212) 244-PLAY. Through Sept. 30.