Sappho, the 6th century poet, is alive and well, and is also in love, which will soon leave her with a difficult choice between the greater needs of her community and her own dreams.
Sappho, the canonical 6th century Ancient Greek poet, is plucked from history and deposited into the focus of this play, entitled Sappho. Here we watch an alternate history to the island of Lesbos, in which Sappho is an openly gay poet who wants to love women, never marry, and simply write till the conclusion of her life. Her parents, however, have alternate plans. Dreaming to revolutionize Lesbos and introduce freedom of speech and true democracy in which all can vote to the island’s socio-political system, they arrange a marriage for Sappho to the son of an ultra-elite family, a marriage of convenience that would afford her parents the kind of power needed to enact the changes they seek to make. Sappho, however, has fallen in love with a women named Adore, whom she has only seen from afar dancing at night. What follows is a slightly perplexing journey of angst, song and dance, and interjection from the gods.
Sappho, in real life, is described as one of the earliest writers of proto-feminist text. This production seeks to highlight her work in which she describes her queerness and admiration for women, something that historians and the church throughout history have tried to dissuade us of. It intends to introduce a new queer love story to popular culture, bursting with satire, camp, and a bit of traditional ancient Greek theatrical principles. This is loosely achieved, albeit laxly defined and lacking cohesion. While the character of Narrator, played by Emmanuel Akwafo, oozes irresistible wit and satire, the same principles seem to have been left out of the director’s notes for the remainder of the cast. The chorus, whose inclusion feels like a logical idea as an homage to traditional ancient Greek comedy/tragedy, feel almost like a distraction from the narrative. While the performance of the chorus was enjoyable to watch, the purpose of their participation lacked clarity.
While Sappho’s central ideology is that of queer love and feminism, many other topical issues – democracy, freedom of speech, immigration – are thrown into the mix. While the allusion to these issues is intellectually valid (none of us are free until we are all free / feminism has only been successful in the advent of all oppressed people being liberated i.e. there is no feminism without discussion of the rights of immigrants / etc. etc. etc), their inclusion seems hollow and inadequately explored.
The performances in Sappho glittered and the cast functioned as a wonderful cohesive unit. They seamlessly slipped into different characters and most certainly charmed the audience with their witty quips and cheeky atmosphere. Over and above the dramaturgical questions left by the production, it was most certainly a fun night at Southwark Playhouse Elephant.