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by Hugo Claus, directed by Jean-Michel d’Hoop

Compagnie Point Zéro, Théâtre de la Place des Martyres

January 9-February 9, 2002

Should you find yourself in Brussels, be sure to see the production of THYESTE by the Compagnie Point Zéro now playing at the Théâtre de la Place des Martyres.  THYESTE is an adaptation of Seneca's "Thyestes" by one of Belgium's best-known authors, Hugo Claus (born 1929).  Claus's 1966 adaptation is presented in French with surtitles in Flemish.  I attended simply because it is so rare to see any play by Seneca, adapted or not.  Little did I expect that this would be the finest production I would see that week.

"Thyestes" is probably best known for the use Shakespeare made of the plot in "Titus Andronicus".  In THYESTE we meet the ghost of Tantale (Angelo dello Spedale), tormented in Hades, with eternal hunger and thirst, for having served his own children to Jupiter at a meal.  Tantale prays that the cycle of retribution he has begun will end with him but a Fury (Laurence Warin) lets him know that the cycle will continue from generation to generation.  On Earth Atrée (Fabrice Rodriguez) holds the throne having defeated his brother Thyeste (Frédéric Topart), but Atrée still wants to punish Thyeste for having stolen his prize ram.  Crazed with jealousy of his brother's calm, Atrée devises a plan to feign reconciliation with Thyeste and at a celebratory meal to give him the flesh of Thyeste's own sons to eat and their blood to drink.  In Claus's interpretation the stoic Thyeste, though profoundly shocked is able to view this profanation as another of the horrors the world is full of.  Instead it is Atrée who is punished with madness because Thyeste seems not to have suffered enough. 

For such a gory subject director and set designer Jean-Michel d'Hoop has clad the stage entirely in white.  Natacha Belova has designed butoh-inspired costumes for the Ghost of Tantale and the Fury and beige costumes of sewn animal skins with Mesopotamian lines for the rest of the cast.  The design gives the play a timeless quality that supports d'Hoop's direction of it as a kind of ritual.  Except for one of Thyeste's sons, once a character enters he or she remains on stage to witness the action until the conclusion.  D'Hoop use of symmetrical blocking underscores Claus's interpretation of the rival brothers as rival sides of human nature--the one embodied by Atrée seeking ultimate power in this world, the other, Thyeste, seeing ultimate power beyond this world.  Atrée leaves vengeance to his sons; Thyeste leaves vengeance to God. 

The cast gives universally excellent performances.  The Chorus (Agnès Guignard) begins with lines of hope and joy inspired by nature.  By the end, shocked by what she has seen, nature is no longer a comfort but metaphor for violence and greed.

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in TheatreWorld (UK) 2002-02-03.

Photo: Frédéric Topart as Thyeste. ©2002 Companie Point Zéro.