Review: Clytaemnestra

[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

Greek drama is all about inevitability. The classical tragic hero is a victim of Fate, propelled by powers beyond mortal comprehension towards a grim conclusion that seems entirely preventable, yet ultimately proves unavoidable.

Ougie Pak’s Clytaemnestra reimagines this antique narrative framework in a comparatively modern context. The plot, appropriately enough, revolves around a production of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, to be performed by a Korean troupe at the Theater of Dionysus in Athens. During the arduous rehearsal process, however, the boundary between life and art begins to blur, even beyond the usual cliché of one extreme “imitating” the other. The show’s director quickly reveals himself to be a tyrant, psychologically abusing his predominantly female cast—forcing them to engage in ruthless self-criticism (though it would be more accurate to say that he expects them to intuit and preemptively concur with his own opinions), subjecting them to grueling humiliation rituals, and encouraging fierce competitiveness between the actresses while simultaneously extolling the virtue of collaboration.

He torments our protagonist—fresh-faced amateur Hye Bin—to a particularly sadistic degree, mocking her feminist interpretation of the text, pressuring her to disclose uncomfortably private details about her past (under the pretext of “exploring personal trauma” so that she can better understand her character’s motivations), and accusing her of “lying” when she contradicts his feedback. Gradually, his egomaniacal perfectionism and blatant favoritism erode both her self-esteem and her sanity, culminating in a climax that is as deliciously cathartic as it is totally predictable (which is not intended as a negative observation, by the way; a predetermined outcome is, after all, an integral component of this genre).

Patient, subtle, and insightful, Clytaemnestra is a thoroughly engrossing study of a storyteller’s hubris, meditating on how creative endeavors are often spectacularly self-destructive. Aeschylus would be proud.