Harlem Comes to Malibu: Ancient Black Lives Matter, Too

By Ed Rampell

For the first time in the 18-year history of Getty Villa’s Outdoor Classical Theater productions staging ancient Greek and Roman theater the Classical Theatre of Harlem has crossed the continent to present a play at Malibu’s amphitheater. As CTH is a theatre company that specializes in stories told through the lens of the African diaspora, the title character of Memnon is from Ethiopia (and not to be confused with Agamemnon, the tragic king featured in Aeschylus’ Oresteia).

Although he was mentioned in Homer’s The Iliad, unlike Helen of Troy (the curvaceous Andrea Patterson, an Obie Award winner and Drama Desk Award nominee), Hector (an offstage presence) and Achilles (the muscular Jesse Corbin, who appeared in a musical version of From Here to Eternity based on James Jones’ novel with lyrics by Tim Rice)–whose battle with the eponymous Ethiopian is the grand finale of this play–Memnon has been largely forgotten, despite his appearance in Homer’s circa 2,800-year-old saga and as the central figure in the Aethiopis, an epic poem normally attributed to Arctinus of Miletus, which is largely lost.

Andrea Patterson as Helen and Eric Berryman as Memnon (left). Jesse J. Perez as Priam in foreground and Andrea Patterson as Helen in background. (right)
© Craig Schwartz Photography

Now, playwright Will Power and the CTH team are restoring Memnon (the majestic Eric Berryman, who previously performed at the Getty Villa in The Persians and The Bacchae) to his rightful place in the mythos of the Trojan War with this new play named after the Ethiopian king. Helmed by Carl Cofield, with costumes by Celeste Jennings, sets (which include mobile scaffolds and cots) by Riw Rakkulchon, music (taped, not played live, alas) composed by David R. Molina and movement choreographed by Tiffany Rea-Fisher (of EMERGE125, who also serves as associate director), this production set around the 7^th century B.C. actually has a Mad Max type vibe. There isn’t a toga in sight, although high top sneakers or boots and other contemporary accoutrements and adornments abound, along with period touches, such as Memnon’s shield. (Getty Villa’s café is offering a Memnon-inspired menu, including an alcoholic concoction called “The Glorious Shield.”)

The 80-minute-or-so one-act play, performed without intermission, can be a bit talky with lengthy monologues or soliloquys–although I imagine that this is a reference to how some Greek dramas were presented in those ancient amphitheaters under the starry Grecian skies, many moons ago. Julliard graduate Jesse. J. Perez recites some of these longwinded speeches in a double role as Priam, King of Troy (who beseeches Memnon to leave Ethiopia and come to the Trojans’ aid in their moment of need, as they are besieged by the Greeks) and as the elderly monarch Nestor. In the latter part, Perez is comical and reminded me in his droll delivery of Cheech Marin. Santo Domingo-born Daniel José Molina is also prone to speechifying and cast in a dual role, as Polydamus and Antilochus.

The cast’s standout is arguably Andrea Patterson, who, as Helen, has the only major female role (the three dancers in the choreo Greek chorus are also women, Holly Hwang Belshaw, Katherine Files and Jenna Kulacz). Mythologically speaking, this rare beauty is the “cause” of it “all"—the  “all” being the war between the Greeks and Trojans. But refreshingly, Will Power has given Helen of Troy a 21^st century feminist slant. In a scene with Memnon, Helen insists that it wasn’t her fault that in patriarchal Sparta she was forced into an arranged marriage with Menelaus and that Paris of Troy absconded with her—presumably because of her astonishing beauty—fleeing Greece for Turkey, and thus triggering a bitter decade-long war. Helen’s lament reminded me of when rape victims are held responsible for their assaults because they wore “provocative” clothing—that old “blame the victim” chauvinism that passes the buck, seeking to evade accountability.

Memnon all leads up to the final conflict, the Armageddon of Memnon versus Achilles, which is well-staged and choreographed (Molina also has a “fight captain” credit; Emmanuel Brown is the fight director). Throughout the play, Memnon—who earlier in his life had been scorned by the Trojans now begging for him to rescue them—has shown himself to be philosophical and reluctant about committing himself and his African army to the cause of Troy. A rather ethereal Ethiopian, let’s just say without spoiling the plot that Memnon would have been far better off if he had simply stayed home instead of embarking on his foolhardy, fateful odyssey from the Horn of Africa to Turkey. Even in 700 or 800 B.C., from Troy to Gaza, war is still hell and the quest for “glory” the ultimate folly, a grand illusion.

Jesse J. Perez as Nestor. (left) Eric Berryman as Memnon in foreground, and Holly Hwang Belshaw in background. (right)

By putting the character of Memnon back in the spotlight alongside his Turkish (Trojan) and Greek counterparts and rescuing him from mythic obscurity, the Classical Theatre of Harlem is proving that throughout the eons, from Sparta to Troy to Harlem to Malibu and beyond, Black Lives Matter—yesterday and today. And in setting the record straight, they have concocted a stirring drama about misplaced heroism and loyalty that is an enlightening experience to be enjoyed out-of-doors at the Roman-style Getty Villa’s amphitheater. Well worth strapping your sandals on and getting into your Trojan horse to drive down to the ’Bu for.

Memnon takes place 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through September 28, 2024, at the Getty Villa’s Outdoor Classical Theater, 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy., Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. Tickets: (310)440-7300 or here.

On October 27 Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum presents a 70th anniversary commemoration and screening of the movie Salt of the Earth, with personal appearances by children of the talents who made this pro-union, pro-Hispanic, pro-woman 1954 classic. For details see here.