May 24th, 2008

Theater Review: “The Judgment of Paris”

By Natalie Zutter

In a small theater in Brooklyn, the well-known story of Helen of Troy is currently strutting through a variety of backdrops, from ancient Greece to seventeenth-century France to 1950s Hollywood, tracing Helen’s rise and fall—a fashion similar, actually, to how we follow any of today’s starlets. With a sparse script, striking dancing, stunning costumes, and a genuine love for performance, the gifted Company XIV presents “The Judgment of Paris”, a masterful, entertaining, and extremely thought-provoking mix of genres and performance styles.

Partly constituting “Judgment”’s quirky charm is the show-within-a-show conceit, expressed through the visible backstage set (composed of scaffolding and old-Hollywood make-up mirrors, and the site of many fervent costume changes) and the smirks and asides that two of the leads occasionally toss over their shoulders to the audience.

Of the myriad performance styles, ballet is the dominant one, linking the otherwise disjointed scenes. Austin McCormick, Juilliard grad and founder of Company XIV, has created truly compelling sequences that make one ache with their emotion. Yet, interspersed with the more classical dances (which provide an excellent metaphor for battle) is gleeful can-can dancing from all parties, their creamy skirts revealing teasing glimpses of bright crimson lace.

The show’s music runs the gamut, with dramatic pieces by Antonio Vivaldi tempered by Jacques Offenbach’s comic opera “La Belle Helene” and the sultry coos of Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe. All are superb picks for the variety of scenes they infuse with passion.

The show is not as erotic as advertised, with the exception of the slow, haunting ballet performed by Helen and Paris upon their first meeting. The way in which Toby Burns and Samantha Ernst stalk one another with slow, deliberate steps, their movements undeniably predatory, steals the audience’s breath.

Even at its most sobering moments—and there are more than would be expected, a very good choice—the prevailing atmosphere is that of a circus, filled with giggling entertainers, flashes and colors, and the charming ringleader. (They even pass out ‘60s-era candy during the intermission.)

Playing the parts of both Paris and Menelaus, Burns manages to elicit sympathy for each rival; but his best work is as the charismatic ringleader of the show, drawing in the audience with his Cockney drawl and winks while keeping the story moving smoothly. Dazzling in a variety of costumes, the ensemble members (Laura Careless, Yeva Glover, and Davon Rainey) deftly complement whomever they are behind, be it as Aphrodite’s cupids or coy courtesans.

The character of Helen is especially fascinating in this story. Despite glimpses of a vixen testing out her power on the man who is hopelessly smitten with her, she is really just Aphrodite’s innocent, helpless mouthpiece. Indeed, she never speaks on her own; later in the play, in a gut-wrenching scene, the other dancers speak for her, mocking her sweet, girlish exterior. She is a pawn in every situation into which she is dragged or shoved—objectified and exploited.

The play deftly leaps between the society of the hoi palloi and that of the seedy club world, both of which are characterized by luxury and fantasy. Helen is a victim of both, as she is first placed on a pedestal as every man’s ultimate fantasy, only to fall off the metaphorical stage. Her story is meant, of course, to parallel that of a Hollywood beauty such as Marilyn Monroe, in which a single person is set up to fulfill the masses’ fantasy, only for the pressures of the stage to reveal that she is no longer a vision or myth, but just a woman.

“The Judgment of Paris”, then, becomes the judgment of Helen. Ernst is lovely and frail as Helen; wearing only a thin shift, she stumbles around helplessly, struggling to understand her power as a woman but ultimately suffering at the hands of those who will use her beauty for their own gains. At the end of the show, as Helen is initiated into her new lifestyle, Ernst’s hesitation and misery grips you and won’t let go.

The play aims to show that lust, though it can be fleeting fun, ultimately imprisons. Lust for this woman destroyed thousands of lives, as well as hers. Aphrodite calls it “the dark truth about nature…the animal reality that will never be tamed by love.” Lust doesn’t lead to happily-ever-after and a long, fulfilling existence with a soulmate; rather, it engenders murder, rape, ruin.

And driving that chariot of devastation is the mistress of love herself. One of “Judgment”’s greatest achievements is its portrayal of Aphrodite in an entirely new light. Even in Greek myths she is described only as flirty and harmless—a dumb blonde, if you will. Yet, here she is granted the power to effect chaos and confusion among mortals through the work of her minions—sending Cupid to churn hormones, and girding her cherubs for war. It is almost as if, in winning the apple, Aphrodite also managed to absorb the aspects of the other two goddesses whom she defeated in the beauty contest.

With her cooing manner and snarky asides, Gioia Marchese dexterously combines all of these personas into one shadowy, seductive being. Some of the character traits that she brings to the stage I would never have equated with Aphrodite—the lounge-singer persona, the Russian accent—but it all fits, a satisfying mix of humor and omnipotence.

“Judgment” thrusts forward so many inventive ideas that you feel slightly cheated when each thoughtful scenario comes on stage for its all-too-brief cameo: Troy reimagined as the Paris of Louis XIV’s time; the lives of Helen and Menelaus after Troy; Helen dressed in shoddy lingerie, burning under the harsh nightclub lights.

“The Judgment of Paris” is a provocative show—not with the obnoxious aim to push the envelope, but rather displaying immense creativity both on- and off-paper. The costumes and dancing are infused with care and a healthy sense of fun, yet at the same time some moments truly steal you away. You may leave feeling stunned by the sparkles and lights, but the themes—lust, control, fantasy, reality—will cling to you, as should be the case with all works of art.

“The Judgment of Paris” is currently playing a limited engagement from May 9-31 at 303 Bond Street (between Union and Sackett Streets) in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students) and can be purchased through smarttix.com or by calling (212) 868-4444.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 5:32 pm and is filed under Arts, Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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