Harsh red light emphasizes a line of people with nooses around their necks. In unison, they take the loose ends of their ropes and hold them high in the air, each of the actors symbolically hanging themselves. As their fists punch the air, an electric guitar wails, and so it begins. Prometheus Bound, showing through April 2 at the Oberon in Cambridge, is a classical myth told like never before, an archetypal struggle against tyranny set to rock guitars, sung by punk rock demons and angels in combat boots and negligees.
The legend of Prometheus is a familiar one. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was the Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Zeus, the king of the gods, then punished him by ordering that he be chained to a rock for all eternity. Since Prometheus was immortal, eternity really means forever. Zeus also ordained that an enormous eagle would eat his liver every day, and that each night, his liver would grow back to be eaten the next day.
This particular production, written by Steven Sater and produced by the American Repertory Theater (ART), is a rock musical inspired by Aeschylus’s ancient Greek tragedy. In this version, Prometheus is cast as the savior of mankind, the Titan who gave humanity intelligence and saved them from Zeus’ sinister plan of extermination. In retaliation, Zeus charges Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, to chain Prometheus on a rock at the ends of the earth for eternity. Prometheus is visited throughout the play by the daughters of the ocean, characters which represent Mother Earth, other Titans, a mortal woman tormented by the unjust hand of Zeus, and last but not least, Hermes, the messenger of the gods. Throughout his torment, Prometheus holds onto his one trump card: he is endowed with supernatural intelligence, and so is the only being in the universe that can tell Zeus not only when he will be dethroned, but also how to avoid it. Prometheus refuses to reveal his secret until he is released from his bonds and Prometheus’ visitors attempt to dissuade him from this ill-advised rebellion.
But by infusing rock opera elements into the myth, ART has taken a classical tale, ripped it apart, and put it back together with duct tape and safety pins. In the beginning, when Hephaestus chains Prometheus to the tall black platform that serves as a mountain, he crowns the Titan with a sinister looking circlet of steel before inserting a mouth guard into the Titan’s mouth and calling down lightening from the heavens as Prometheus writhes. The daughters of the earth, clad in silk nightgowns and heavy black boots, their faces streaked with glitter, scream for his pain as they scramble up and down ladders placed around the theatre. And the audience is right in the middle of it—literally. The entire show takes place on a dance floor populated by the audience. Anonymous characters dressed in black subtly shepherd the crowd out of characters’ way as they undulate across the floor.
Prometheus Bound, with its themes of rebellion against an unjust tyranny, has never been more relevant than today. Taking advantage of that fact, the producers of the show have united with Amnesty International to highlight people all over the world that are currently jailed unfairly for speaking out against injustice. Never has political activism rocked so hard.
Interested in seeing the show? Student rush tickets are available an hour before the show for $15 dollars. Check out showtimes and more information here.
Hey folks, you can actually get $15 student rush tickets IN ADVANCE all this week, not just an hour before the show. This is the final week of performances! Go here http://bit.ly/PBtickets and enter the discount code “probo15.”