Memnon: as the gods will it
Reluctant warriors “Memnon” at the Getty Villa, a review by Bondo Wyszpolski Every September, for nearly two decades, the Getty Villa has presented a new rendition of an ancient Greek or Roman play, some of them comedies, some of them tragedies, and the performances take place in the courtyard between the outdoor amphitheater and the entrance to the museum. Gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, they’ve all paraded before us. This year, however, “Memnon,” a co-production of the Getty and the Classical Theatre of Harlem, is the first time we’re encountering a play that’s not based on an extant text. Memnon was an Ethiopian king who brought an army of 10,000 men to Troy after the Trojans have spent 10 years in a stalemate while attempting to repel the Greeks (the Achaeans) who’ve laid siege to the city mainly because their beauty queen, Helen, was abducted by Paris, and they want her back. It’s entirely possible that Memnon, mentioned several times in “The Iliad,” may have been the subject of a few plays, but if so none have survived. Thinking that he deserved to be brought in from the cold, as it were, director Carl Cofield and playwright Will Power put their heads together and…
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