Pandora: A Tragicomic Greek Romp features Pandora, the Greek gods’ gift to mankind and Nikodemos, a prolific but not always successful inventor in ancient Greece. What a shame that he never got around to inventing scissors or an editor’s blue pencil because a funny premise is weakened by the length and repetitiveness of the script.
According to myth, Zeus and the gods endow Pandora with many gifts and then send her to Earth with a box containing all sorts of evils to punish mankind for receiving the stolen gift of fire from Prometheus. This Pandora (Madeline Whiting) is endowed with beauty and strength, but is lacking mental and emotional development. For example, she thinks sand might be food and is unsure when the use of force is justified.
Nikodemos (Jayme Bell) finds Pandora and takes her into his home where he lives with his younger brother Philo (Natalie Pyle). The presence of the winsome young woman in Niko’s home is upsetting to Eris (Katie Jeffries), the woman his late parents had arranged to be his fiancée.
The production benefits greatly from the enormously appealing performance of Whiting as Pandora. However, only she and Pyle manage to give their characters any real depth that earns audience empathy.
The problem is that the play is written with silly, farcical humor. It’s true that the production has many funny moments as a result of comic lines and some occasionally inspired staging and physical business.
Unfortunately, it is hard to sustain that style of broad humor and the production loses energy over its one act, one hour and forty-three minutes . Further, many of the sources of humor, such as Niko’s wacky inventions or the fact that Megas (Matt Sparacino) is strong but dumb, are overdone .
Pandora: A Tragicomic Greek Romp is a pleasing choice for Fringegoers seeking some laughs. The show may, however, make you long for last year’s superior production from Impressionable Players, Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending.
Pandora: A Tragicomic Greek Romp has 4 more performances in the Mead Theatre at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th Street NW, Washington, DC.
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Steven rates this 3 out of 5
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I saw this show on Saturday, and this review is at odds with what I (not to mention most of the audience) experienced. Meggis was an audience favorite, basically every time he walked on stage everyone was laughing or “aww-ing” in empathy. He had great comic timing, actually reminded me a bit of Will Ferrell at his best. Eris also drew a lot of audience sympathy, and the actress brought impressive emotional intensity to the role. And the chorus leader was hilariously deadpan.
Also, the character of Pandora isn’t lacking mental or emotional development, she’s just lacking knowledge, which isn’t the same thing. Seeing how she learns and grows over the course of the play, especially given the challenges and betrayals thrown at her, it’s clear she’s smart and caring and strong from the get-go. The point is (mild spoiler, sort of!) that she moves beyond her initial naivete without becoming bitter or cynical about humanity, and it’s only because she can do that that anyone gets a happy ending. Not only is this play is a fun, wacky romantic comedy, but there are a lot of deeper themes going on underneath the surface if you stop to think about it.
im sorry this reviewer was somewhat less than completely thrilled , especially considering how much he enjoyed romeo and juliet. it was written in a silly and farcical style because it was a farce, which are as we all know means THE SILLIER THE BETTER! LOL
i felt that considering this was a brand new show of completely original material,and it was opening night and the first performance it held its own nicely to romeo and juliet which was a clever variation on material we all know and love. QUITE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT! if you ask me! and i, for one, enjoyed every rip roaring rollicking moment! the pace was terrific, the cast enthusiastic and talented, the writing fresh and inventive and the majority of the audience seemed to be rolling in the aisles! when they weren’t doubled over in laughter !or groaning in amusement! or cheering and giggling! whistling or cat calling! LOL go see it! you can thank me later!