Theater review: Woe on the big screen

The United Kingdom's National Theatre has borrowed a tune from the Metropolitan Opera. The Met has taken to simulcasting high-definition performances to movie houses nationwide, to great success. The NT has not gone live, but it has sent out a high-def performance of "Phèdre," starring Helen Mirren. The Guthrie Theater is one of 230 venues worldwide that picked up the production in presentations today and Thursday.

This play by Jean Racine (and adapted by poet Ted Hughes) relates a familiar Greek trope. To wit: Incest leads to tragedy. The details, the language and the performances determine its worthiness. Here, Mirren plays the queen of Athens who is smitten with her stepson, Hippolytus (a strikingly handsome Dominic Cooper). Convinced that her husband, Theseus, has perished at sea, Phèdre confesses her lust and Hippolytus rejects her. The rumors of Theseus' demise prove exaggerated and upon his return, Phèdre's fast-thinking nurse steps up to accuse Hippolytus of adultery. This being the Greeks, it ends badly.

Nicholas Hytner directs the National Theatre with an epic style, best illustrated by Mirren's broad gestures of grief and madness. This approach keeps Mirren in a certain range and even when her work modulates, the acting appears evident. Margaret Tyzack, the distinguished Tony and Olivier winner, slips into a naturalistic mien in her portrayal of the nurse, Oenone. Tyzack leads with her eyes and a great sense of authenticity.

As Theseus, Stanley Townsend has a solid block of graying beard and hair. He conveys a blunt and tough man whose heroic past still informs his countenance at the same time his body betrays bloat and dissipation. His voice leaves no doubt that this is a king. Cooper carries heroism proudly and easily on Hippolytus' broad shoulders. Too, he speaks the words as if they are his own. Ruth Negga is a lovely waif as Aricia, the object of Hippolytus' affection.

The film, or broadcast or digitization or whatever you call high definition, has a lively feel in the Guthrie's proscenium theater. While in concept this broadcast is not much different from great performances on PBS, or filmed theater, the sheer size of the screen and the crisp precision of the image lessen the two-dimensional barrier that so many of these film experiences have. The sharp close-ups are a double-edged sword when spittle forms on the lips of an actor, but that's kind of what you want -- a feel for live humans acting their roles with passion.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299