Word: prometheus
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EACH YEAR, a few ambitious directors summon the spirit of the Greek amphitheater to the dark, boxy Ex. Occasionally and remarkably, the Ex production of Prometheus Bound, directed by Brian Powers according to an eclectic translation, flashes with this spirit of intense, exalted suffering. The drama is powerful only as a ritual, though: incredulous at the old myth of Prometheus, we feel no surge of pity and terror, but only detachment...
Because he has not aimed at grandeur, Powers has created an impressive spectacle within the confines of the experimental theater. The precise articulation which he has demanded from his cast makes the elaborate, lyrical speeches welcomely clear. By having two Prometheus figures -- one a dummy -- Powers escapes the problems of sustaining audience interest in an immobile actor and effectively makes incarnate the idea of a free, rebellious mind in a fettered body...
...vital Prometheus, Christopher Kennedy communicates his suffering with sufficient strength and sincerity to hold the play together. Yet constantly craning his neck and turning his Roman profile to the light, Kennedy seems a little too arrogant: his sneers make the Titan's earlier compassion for man incomprehensible. With the exception of Liz Tyler, the chorus leader, and Louise Claps, the supporting cast too often tends toward melodrama or sing-song declamation. Tyler is adequate in a role comparable to the straight man in a comedy team; like a kindly next-door neighbor, she foils the cries and anguish of Prometheus...
...confront, more clearly than the first three books, the final purpose of Don Juan's painful teachings: a special case of the ancient desire to know, propitiate and, if possible, use the mysterious forces of the universe. In that pursuit, the splitting of the atom, the sin of Prometheus and Castaneda's search for a "power spot" near Los Angeles can all be remotely linked. A good deal of the magic Don Juan works on Castaneda in the books (making Carlos believe his car has disappeared, for instance) sounds like the kind of fakir rope trickery that gurus think frivolous...
...reasoning is somewhat muddled in that Lucifer has also been presented as a kind of Prometheus who wants to free men from God. The play is further clouded by Lucifer's suggestion that man, by his own will, has cut himself loose from the authority of both God and the Devil and is condemned to the lonely task of fashioning his own heaven and his own hell...