Review: CBT's 'Phaedra' leaves little shades of gray

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Jacques DuRand as Theseus and Samantha Huskey as Phaedra in the University of Tennessee’s Lab Theatre’s production of “Phaedra.”

It takes most of Hippolyte's opening monologue to adjust to the complexities of the reverse social panopticon of the Rupert Murdoch-esque see-all, tell-all environment that director Klaus van der Berg and set designer Elizabeth Stadstad have orchestrated for the Clarence Brown Theatre's production of "Phaedra," now playing in the Lab Theatre.

The play is a 21st century revisioning of 17th French playwright Jean Racine's observations of the court of Louis XIV's insular society, which itself takes its inspiration from Euripides' telling of the Greek myth about a queen who falls in love with her stepson with disastrous results.

In the CBT's production, Phaedre's every thought and action are scrutinized and spun by the prying eyes and lenses of today's electronic media and the less-than-sympathetic intellects that run them.

Set on a stage that is a simple, royal purple square with nothing but a Lucite pedestal on which rests a gun, it seems like a straightforward world designed as a background for the glittering, faded gold gown of Phaedra, played by Samantha Husky, and the emerald gown of OEnone, played by Megan Deshaies.

That is, until one sees the cameras mounted just below stage lights and hears the newscasts and gossip hosts putting their twists on things.

Except for Phaedra and OEnone, costume designer Miwa Ishii subtly put everyone in shades of gray and black. Hippolyte, played by Patrick Murphy, comes on as a semi-rebellious hipster in a black leather jacket and dark shades.

It's the visual clue that Phaedra and OEnone know something everyone else doesn't: Phaedra has an unrevealed passion for Hippolyte and is on the edge of carrying it out while her husband, Thesee, is away.

Jacques DuRand as Thesee, the king of Athens gives a stand-out performance as the father who believes his son initiated a relationship with his wife.

But, despite the invasive presence of the media world in which Phaedra finds herself, it is ultimately from the inside out that she self-destructs.

And it is to CBT's credit that, in this production, there are no silver-lined clouds to illuminate the darkness when the lights go out.

Harold Duckett is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.

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