Strong performances from Niki Amuka-Bird and David Harewood carry Moira Buffini's ambitious new play.
It's impressive how much humour Moira Buffini has allowed to permeate her new play, Welcome to Thebes at National Theatre. Thebes, slowly picking itself up after being ravaged by a brutal civil war seeks help from stronger nations. Leader of the Athenians, the suave Theseus, brilliantly played by David Harewood, is willing to help. The Spartans are too, but will quite flagrantly make demands on the country's natural resources – meanwhile Thebes' new president Eurydice (Nikki Amuka-Bird) has a bankrupt, volatile state to run.
Given the dire state of affairs, the graphic description of the brutalities of war and the child soldiers who continue to point guns, it's surprising that Buffini has been able to spot so many opportunities to make a joke and make them well. Much of this is welcome, but for a play that has the potential to be so much more moving, the flickers of comedy lessen the intensity.
Through an excellently executed combination of modern politics and ancient myth, that sees women head the new government of a broken third world country, Buffini appears to be making two rather confused points. One, that women stand a better chance of developing a country and protecting it from violence through peaceful means and two, that no country is fated to a doomed, scrabbling status and can change itself.
Her portrayal of women in government is refreshingly human. They are idealistic, practical, flawed, intelligent and hugely capable. Sometimes men are their equals, sometimes they are objectified. No one here is a saint, but everyone appears either overly earnest or brazenly cruel. Such clear goodies and baddies are usually necessary for ancient myth but rarely have a place in modern politics.
At the end of the play Buffini's comment on whether a nation can change itself or whether its future is decided by fate remains unclear. Theseus, his aid, Eurydice and other characters turn time and time again to the abstract ramblings of the hermaphrodite hag Tiresias, a seer with haunting predictions of the future. Using such characters and practices from mythic history to portray the complexities of modern politics seems at odds here.
Her script is complimented by Tim Hatley's commanding set design. His stirring, wrecked royal palace, left an empty shell after the war, is the perfect place for the gripping first scene, and a brilliant monologue from Madeline Appiah playing one of the most compelling characters, Magera, a child soldier.
Welcome to Thebes does provoke thought, and perhaps Buffini is making a point about the pre-ordained conclusion we often give to the third world despite our own voices for change. This play is well written, dark and humorous and full of haunting and provoking characters – it's well worth your time.
Photo Credit: Nobby Clark
Welcome to Thebes runs until August 18th and is one of the plays at National Theatre sponsored by Travelex £10 Tickets, as is Women Beware Women and Danton's Death.
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