Don’t Cross Mama

The Water’s Edge – Ashton Rep

When Richard pulls back the tarp revealing to his pretty, young companion Lucy an outdoor bathtub, his favorite part of the lake house his father built many years ago, the audience recognizes it’s significant for reasons yet to be revealed. Prolific playwright (“Mauritius”), novelist (Three Girls and Their Brother) and screenplay writer (“Harriet the Spy”) Theresa Rebeck has fashioned a modern retelling of the ancient Greek tragedy “Agamemnon” that’s both fascinating and horrifying, taking audiences on a tense journey of revenge. The classical work inspiring this play tells of the famous Trojan War hero who sacrificed his own daughter to appease the gods. Then, after several years abroad, Agamemnon returns home flaunting his new, young wife Cassandra and Clytemnestra (his first wife and mother of the slain daughter) eventually takes her revenge. As audiences witness Richard’s uncomfortable reunion unfold with his former wife Helen and their two children Erica and Nate, the storyline seems very familiar and we know that this is not going to end well.