Buy cheap tickets for The Lion King
This Restless House

Theatrical serendipity currently means that, after some masculine brutality set during the latter stages of the ancient siege of Troy (in the Royal Lyceum’s new adaptation of Homer’s Iliad), a determined audience member need travel just an hour or so west to the Citizens Theatre to find out what happened next to at least some of the victors when they returned home.

Combined with Niloa Kodjabashia’s inventive, live-performed sound design, this is an enveloping world which balances despair with optimisim, horror with laughter, and a real glimpse of justice and hope.

In outline at least, Zinnie Harris’s This Restless House follows Aeschylus’s 2,500 year old template – the three play Oresteia – clearly enough: in Agamemnon’s Return, the titular King of Argos comes home victorious from Troy to face the murderous wrath of his wife Clytemnestra, who has never forgiven him for sacrificing their eldest daughter Iphigenia to the gods in order to ensure victory. In The Bough Breaks, Clytemnestra’s bloody murder of Agamemnon is revenged by their surviving children – son Orestes, after whom the original trilogy of plays are named, and youngest daughter Electra. Finally, in Electra And Her Shadow, the pair must escape the Furies aroused by such matricide and face a judgement in which justice ends an otherwise endless cycle of revenge.

Harris retains and reworks much of this – not least the traditional chorus, initially reimagined here as three reprobate “gentlemen of the street” all too willing to address the audience directly and throw in some local jokes as they “info-dump” the back story. Yet Harris’s authorial focus is starkly different from Aeschylus’s; her’s is on the women, not the men. In Part 1, the centre of attention is Pauline Knowles’s astounding Clytemnestra – furious, maternal, glamorous, sultry and often drunk. In Part 2, she shares the spotlight with Olivia Morgan’s Electra – a wiry, old-before-her-time survivor. In Part 3, our focus is chiefly on Electra, not least when she ends up hiding in a somewhat worn down psychiatric hospital.

This is not to deny the importance of the men in the story: George Anton is a powerfully grizzly Agamemnon – a worn, tired and openly flawed giant in Part 1, reduced to a lonely, bloodied and unseen ghost in the later plays. Cliff Burnett and George Costigan have the right comedic edge as members of the chorus, although particular praise must go to Lorn MacDonald, whose switch from chorus member to the itch-wracked Orestes is so startling it’s hard to believe the two are performed by the same actor.

Even during the first two plays, set in the years following the destruction of Troy, there is no real attempt here at period verisimilitude; director Dominic Hill opts for a worn jumble-sale approach to costumes, as the cast perform within Colin Richmond’s garage-like set which proves remarkably adaptable during the course of the three plays. Ben Ormerod’s lighting design, meantime, is superb; atmospheric and not afraid to paint with the brightest colours as we move from ancient Greek palace to forest dreamscape to psychological hospital ward. Combined with Niloa Kodjabashia’s inventive, live-performed sound design, this is an enveloping world which balances despair with optimisim, horror with laughter, and a real glimpse of justice and hope. A startlingly bold, inventive, and heartfelt production.

Reviews by Paul Fisher Cockburn

Paradise in The Vault

The Wellbrick Centre on Roswell Drive

★★★
Church Hill Theatre

The Outrun

★★★
Summerhall

One of Two

★★★★
Scottish Storytelling Centre

Moira in Lockdown

★★★★★

Since you’re here…

… we have a small favour to ask. We don't want your money to support a hack's bar bill at Abattoir, but if you have a pound or two spare, we really encourage you to support a good cause. If this review has either helped you discover a gem or avoid a turkey, consider doing some good that will really make a difference.

You can donate to the charity of your choice, but if you're looking for inspiration, there are three charities we really like.

Mama Biashara
Kate Copstick’s charity, Mama Biashara, works with the poorest and most marginalised people in Kenya. They give grants to set up small, sustainable businesses that bring financial independence and security. That five quid you spend on a large glass of House White? They can save someone’s life with that. And the money for a pair of Air Jordans? Will take four women and their fifteen children away from a man who is raping them and into a new life with a moneymaking business for Mum and happiness for the kids.
Donate to Mama Biashara now

Theatre MAD
The Make A Difference Trust fights HIV & AIDS one stage at a time. Their UK and International grant-making strategy is based on five criteria that raise awareness, educate, and provide care and support for the most vulnerable in society. A host of fundraising events, including Bucket Collections, Late Night Cabarets, West End Eurovision, West End Bares and A West End Christmas continue to raise funds for projects both in the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Donate to Theatre MAD now

Acting For Others
Acting for Others provides financial and emotional support to all theatre workers in times of need through the 14 member charities. During the COVID-19 crisis Acting for Others have raised over £1.7m to support theatre workers affected by the pandemic.
Donate to Acting For Others now

Performances

Location

The Blurb

A father’s horrifying sacrifice of his daughter sets in motion a cycle of bloody revenge and counter-revenge. As his family rots from the inside as a result of his brutal act, the loyalties of his surviving children are pushed to the extreme. The curse that has gripped the family for generations looks as if it will never end.

This Restless House, based on the epic Greek trilogy The Oresteia, is an exhilarating theatrical event and contemporary take on an ancient drama that has survived two and a half thousand years.

Re-imagined in a gripping new trilogy of plays by Zinnie Harris (BBC’s Spooks and Partners in Crime and plays Further Than the Furthest Thing, How to Hold Your Breath and The Wheel). Dominic Hill directs, with music by Nikola Kodjabashia (A Christmas Carol, Hamlet, Crime and Punishment) and designed by Colin Richmond (Crime and Punishment, Doctor Faustus).

Buy cheap tickets for Agatha Christie The Mousetrap
Buy cheap tickets for The Lion King

Most Popular See More

Buy cheap tickets for Mrs. Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire

From £25.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Abba Voyage
Abba Voyage

From £67.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for The Play That Goes Wrong
The Play That Goes Wrong

From £31.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical

From £23.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Only Fools And Horses
Only Fools And Horses

From £43.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Nutcracker - London Coliseum
Nutcracker - London Coliseum

From £22.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Stiletto
Buy cheap tickets for Jack and the Beanstalk Adult Panto
Buy cheap tickets for Brace Brace
Buy cheap tickets for The Dazzling Diamonds
Buy cheap tickets for Giant
Buy cheap tickets for Matilda
Buy cheap tickets for Pretty Vacant
Buy cheap tickets for Why Am I So Single
Buy cheap tickets for Mozart - Her Story
Buy cheap tickets for Circa Duck Pond