Kyle Regan—a masochistic Stranger reader—has vowed to do every single thing recommended by the Stranger Suggests (movies, galleries, bars, concerts) for the month of January. Look for his reports daily on Slog. —Eds.

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I had never seen a Greek tragedy. Up til now, my theater experience was limited to bubbly musicals or comedic stuff. Electra is not that. At all. Seriously, don’t bring the kids. A romp through Wikipedia shed some light on classic Greek dramas. The Sopranos ain’t got shit on the Greeks. If you aren’t fucking a cousin you’re bathing in the blood of your enemies while sodomizing their children.

Electra was no less brutal. Brendan Kiley called it right: Marya Sea Kaminski was the gem of the show. She hissed and spat like a feral animal. Her sorrow was hard to watch. Batshit nuts never looked so good. The other characters pale by comparison: I wanted to watch Kaminski the whole time. It was like watching fireworks. Dirt-stained, vengeful, manic fireworks. The blood surprised me, too. This wasn’t a cut-on-my-finger- blood. This was a Lizzie-Borden-with-an-axe blood.

This was not the stodgy “classical theater” piece I dreaded. Greeks were motherfucking hard. I went to show expecting to barely stay awake. It was riveting. When my friend Jenya and I left the small auditorium, we had to take a break to digest what we just saw. It was that good. Well, it was that good for two people who are equally uneducated where drama is concerned. The musicals and comedies I’ve seen have all pretty much blended into a mash of semi-memorable jokes and gags, but I expect that this piece of theater will stay vivid for quite a while. A powerful show that I would have missed but for it having been suggested.

15 replies on “Yesterday the Stranger Suggested: Electra at Seattle Shakespeare Company”

  4. I’d like to suggest something to the Stranger to consider suggesting. See the opera Il Trovatore. It was damnit amazing, and I only saw the silver cast. Let me put a fine point on this – I’ve seen around 25 operas over the past 6 years (including some in NY, Portland, and SF) along with the complete Ring cycle. Il Trovatore is the best opera I’ve ever seen.

    Do not read anything about it. Don’t read the plot in the program they give you when you’re there. Just go, and watch and listen. Your heart will be torn out and your jaw will drop to the floor. Ok, the scenery could have been much better, but the singing and the plot were fantastic. This is opera at it’s peak.

  5. Um… Yeah. Crap plays don’t usually stay in production for 2,400 years… You know, if its a “classic” that actually means its good…

  8. He went to school, right?
    And he never encountered a Greek tragedy performance before?
    What the hell is wrong with our school system?

  9. @8, I never once encountered Greek Tragedy in high school or 4 years of college either.

    Great write up, Kyle. I may have to see this now.

  10. @8 I went to a good public school that did emphasize arts and I still never saw one. You have to admit though that first you need to convince a school district that art is important, then that drama is important, then classic drama is important. Classical Greek tragedy drama is a pretty minor subset of all the things a school is expected to do.

  11. Excellent, these just keep getting better. I’m eager to hear the end-of-month roundup and subsequent check-ins about Kyle being a more rounded, cultured and thoughtful person thanks to this experience. It gives Stranger Suggests some respect. So far.

  13. @12:

    Yeah, that’s how I got my ticket for tonight. The $5.00 service charge is pretty steep, at least compared to Brown Paper Tickets, or the late Ticket/Ticket, but it’s still cheaper than full-price, so…

  14. I love Greek tragedy, and Electra is absolutely brilliant. I reeeeeaaaaaally wish I could see this show. Also, ‘If you aren’t fucking a cousin you’re bathing in the blood of your enemies while sodomizing their children’ is a genius summation.

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