The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Ion is Entertaining and Surprising

March 18, 8:10 AMDC Cultural Events ExaminerJada Bradley

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The ancient Greeks dealt with tourists too!

Puppets, misbehaving gods, men with wings, and the bus stop?! See all that at more when you see The Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Ion .

After getting a sneak peak of the play at an open rehearsal, I had to go see the entire thing. Some friends and I took advantage of the theater's discount for patrons under the age of 35 on certain nights.  As the preview promised, it certainly wasn't disappointing.

This play, set in ancient Greece, proves that there really is nothing new under the sun. we wrestle with some of the same problems, even if the names, places and technology have changed. Loose lips can sink ships and possibly ruin lives and despite what happens on The Brady Bunch, things don't always go smoothly in blended families. Although it is billed as 'the only Greek play without a tragic ending,' Ion has its fair share of pillaging, anguish and attempted murder before that ending.

In the play, an orphan of unknown origin works at the temple and is surprised to learn through the temple's

that he is actually the child of royalty. Like many Greek plays, this one takes place in the course of one day and injects a bit of melodrama, not to mention convenient plot devices such as the sudden appearance of a bracelet that can give both instant death and eternal life. Yet, we return to the ancient Greeks again and again because like the best dramas, their plays have clever rather than cruel ways of getting us to examine ourselves.

As a nameless temple servant, Ion was humble and without rank in society, but with a change of clothes and an improved status, he is less humble, and possibly less secure of his identity than he was when he had no name.

The Shakespeare Theatre employs both traditional Greek dress and modern clothing and somehow it makes sense. The traditional clothing of the temple servants separates them from the outside world where a Greek chorus wears touristy clothes and the king's bodyguards wear sharp suits.

While the costume changes were not jarring, I cannot say the same for the songs sung by the Greek chorus. With the exception of rather catchy tune, neither I nor my companions thought much of this aspect of the play.

The play program contains an essay by Akiva Fox noting that Euripedes ends several plays with the phrase "the things we expected to happen did not happen." Truer words were never spoken. This play began and ended with the unexpected. I didn't think I'd see puppets being used at the Shakepeare Theatre again, but puppets were used to kick the story off. And the ending was much more fun that I'd imagined it would be.

Ion runs until 4/12/2009 at Sidney Harman Hall. (Photo from shakespearetheatre.org)