Brandeis Ensemble Theater challenged patriarchal society and rape culture in their production of “The Love of the Nightingale” in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater this past weekend. The play was written by Timberlake Wertenbaker in 1989 and is a retelling of an Ancient Greek myth about the rape of the Athenian princess Philomela (Keturah Walker ’18) by her brother-in-law Tereus (Andrew Hyde ’17), the king of Thrace.

The show was moving, heartfelt, and simply sad, in that it truly made you feel for the characters and question a society that allowed such things to happen.

In an interview with the Justice, the director, Ayelet Schrek ’17, said she chose this show because “there was a lot of theatre with overt political natures last semester and I wanted to make sure that continued this semester.”

Schrek went on to say how she wanted to focus in this production on issues of sexual violence and race in society.

The play featured a simple set composed mostly of one large set of steps that dominated the stage. This was where the chorus usually staged their performance. The chorus in this play, as with any Ancient Greek play, was there to inform the audience about what was happening, especially in terms of background and events happening off-stage.

There was a male chorus and a female chorus, each to speak for the male and female characters on stage and represent their states. Although simplistic, this set served well as the various settings (a ship, stands in a theatre, the palace at Thrace, etc.) and as a space for the chorus. Schrek said she chose simple tech because “it’s a complex story and I didn’t want design elements to overpower it.” Keturah Walker ’18 as the lead, Philomela was believable in her innocence and passion about the world.

When it was clear Philomela was heading toward danger, it was difficult not to fear for her. The show was not about just her rape but also her relationship with her sister Procne (Salena Deane ’19), the wife of the man who raped her.

The love between the two sisters was a strong bond that proved to be unbreakable, and gave the audience something to root for. However, perhaps the most heartbreaking character was neither of the sisters but Niobe (Laura Goemann ’19).

Niobe appeared as an older companion to Procne on her journey, and throughout the play her story is revealed as someone who was also raped and so councels Philomela on how to deal with her own experience.

Schrek made her point on how society treats sexual violence most apparent in Niobe’s advice to Philomela. Niobe spent much of the play telling Philomela that she has to make herself small and consent to the desires of the man who raped her and that it could’ve been a lot worse.

In Niobe, we see how society has told her to be passive about the violence done to her, and Niobe perpetuates the cycle with what she tells Philomela. Philomela, however, does not listen to her, and continues to try to tell the world of what happened to her, even after Tereus rips her tongue out. The great triumph of the play is when Philomela manages to reunite with her sister.

Most of the Athenian characters were played by African American actors, and most of the Thracian characters were played by white actors.

Possibly, this was intentional to make a comment on the subjugation of the Athenians, as a parallel to today’s subjugation of African Americans.

The play emphasizes the subjugation of women in society. Procne is forced to marry Tereus even though she doesn’t want to, and while the soldiers upon the ship know Philomela was raped, they do nothing about it. The play spoke well on the subject of violence against women.

The acting in the show was not terribly exciting, and many of the characters appeared depthless, as the lines were given rather flatly. This was most true with the chorus, many of whom gave their lines rather robotically.

While the chorus is composed of characters without names or specific personalities, in Ancient Greek plays, they are still often given some of the most passionate lines in the play, and this play was no different.

One actor in the chorus that defied this, however, was Kaelan Lynch ’17, who delivered his lines comedically, and full of personality. Jessie Shinberg ’17 is another actor who broke this mold. She created for her character a sassy persona, with a touch of mean girl. Her few lines were breaths of relief in the play.

“The Love of the Nightingale” was beautiful, sad, and challenged the social constructs put together by a patriarchal society.