DRAMA: Greek-inspired play impresses despite minor flaws

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El Estoque Staff

chilles (junior Kevin Singh) and Hector (sophomore Alexander Pieb) battle it out in an abridged rendition of The Iliad.
Archilles (junior Kevin Singh) and Hector (sophomore Alexander Pieb) battle it out in an abridged rendition of The Iliad. Photo by Cristophe Haubursin.

What do you do when you have no idea what to do for your school project on Ancient Greek Mythology? You create a full blown play. That’s the idea behind the drama department’s “Greek Mythology Olypmiaganza,” a school presentation for Greek Mythology that takes a turn for the hilarious. While well done overall and a marvelous feat of human engineering, this most recent school play would have benefited from a more streamlined approach.

There are so many great moments in the production. A Shakespearean monologue by Hercules (senior Marc Wheeler) is delivered with great power and enunciation. An epic sword fight between Achilles (junior Kevin Singh) and Hector (sophomore Alexander Pieb) is chock full of “The Princess Bride” references, and utilizes all of the amazing, mountainous set, almost making you believe you’re watching the classic movie itself. And senior Nicolas Arquie acting as a hyperactive student using stuffed animals to act out the Trojan War is also among the highlights. At one point he shouts: “And then, aliens come!” in a voice so full of excitement that you can’t help but want to be a little kid again playing with stuffed animals too.

However, some of the gags fall flat. The references to current events and pop culture can sometimes seem cheap and overdone. There are enough jokes already about Twilight, Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black to last a lifetime. The best moments of the play were when the actors were allowed to act as crazily as they wanted. What made the Princess Bride references great were the fact that they weren’t explicitly stated, but acted out. More moments like this, and not jokes about modern trends the majority of the school populace already knows have no value, would have made for a better production.

Also, while the musical numbers were well choreographed considering most of the actors do not have a background in dance, the scene dragged despite the actors energy. It would have been more entertaining to see a better done but shorter dance sequence. And even though the lighting was great throughout, the spotlight spazzing  while “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO played with no one onstage was quite hard to sit through without feeling awkward.

Despite these small flaws, the play was an entertaining satire of Ancient Greek Mythology. Definitely watch it. Just know that if you’re a foxy young lady, you run the risk of being hit on by Zeus.