This play was commissioned for the Royal Shakespeare Company and first performed in 1989. It is a feminist retelling of the Greek myth of the rape of Philomela. In 2007 it was adapted into an opera of the same name
In the myth, Philomela and her sister Procne are the daughters of Pandion I, King of Athens. Procne is married to Tereus, King of Thrace in return for his help with a war against Thebes. She has a great deal of difficulty adjusting to this new land and customs, so begs Tereus to allow Philomela to come to Thrace. He relents, but on the trip from Athens to Thrace, he becomes jealous and lustful when Philomela and the ships captain fall in love. Convinced he is in love with her, Tereus tries to convince her that Procne has died waiting for their return. When he fails in his lie, he rapes Philomela. Fearing her defiant nature and determination to tell Procne what happened, Tereus cuts out her tongue and locks her in a cabin in the woods; he tells Procne that her sister has died during the voyage.
Five years go by, during which the silent Philomela is creating life-size dolls in her lonely cabin; the only people she has seen are Tereus and her two servants. The annual Dionysian festival comes, and Philomela is able to leave her cabin due to the chaos of the festivities. During this festival, she uses her dolls to act out the story of her voyage, rape and subsequent capture, allowing Procne to discover the truth. In revenge, Procne kills her son and feeds him to Tereus. Enraged, he chases the sisters to kill them both, but they are all turned into birds by the Theoi: Procne into Swallow, Tereus into a Hoopoe and Philomela into a Nightingale.
Wertenbaker’s adaptation tells of the dangers that come from silence, both chosen and forced, as well as dangers that come from making someone into an “other.” The silence that comes over Philomela after her attack is only the obvious one. Procne is isolated in her new home because of the many differences between Athens and Thrace. These differences force Procne into silence, often asking “where [had] the words gone?” as those around ignore her. The Chorus stands outside of the play and makes many observations about the happenings on stage, but is unable to interfere. Even Philomela’s servant Niobe is unable to be vocal about her knowledge that Tereus is going to prove a danger. The audience is remiknded over and over that, even though no one is discussing something (the rape, Philomela being alive, Procne being ostracized), they are still happening. And that, by being part of the silence, you are being part of the problem.
The sober theme of the play doesn’t mean there is no light-heartedness and humanity. The character of Niobe is described by one critic as having “looked, moved, and even sounded a little like she had walked out of a Monty Python sketch into the play” (Beck Holden, 2007). Now, this is the version I have seen, so cannot guarantee that Niobe is always portrayed as humorous, but I cannot imagine her role being much more serious than described above. And there was a pair of soldiers that also provided comic relief amongst the chaos happening around them. Even the role of Tereus is not without an element of humanity–rather than kill Philomela, he provides for her as “a caged bird”–whatever monstrous acts he has done, he still has a human heart. Yet that element of humanity does not condone what he has done, and he is still subject to retribution and punishment.
This play is obviously something that has triggering elements, which the viewer should be aware of beforehand. The set is meant to be minimalistic, so the chances of there being a lot of props of scenery is nil, baring the director taking a lot of creative license. This minimalism allows the viewer to truly get into the story rather than focus on a lot of scenery changes and flashy props. It is a well-written play with deep meaning and emotion.
