Generative AI, my foot.
If you want to know about the potential havoc from deepfakes, check out the Greek gods. Over 2,000 years ago, they were all the talk for creating spirit doubles in “Helen,” the Euripides play that offers an alternative version of the story about the legendary beauty whose kidnapping or elopement leads to the Trojan War.
In Euripides’ retelling, the person being blamed for causing a world of woe is a holographic phantom formed by the gods from clouds. The real Helen is in exile in Egypt, hiding in a tomb because the new king has the hots for her.
“Helen” is getting a delectable and fun production by Ten Thousand Things Theater, a company known for its unadorned distillation of theatrical works. Adapted by John Barton and Kenneth Cavander, the one-act is staged with vitality, muscle and wit by Marcela Lorca. The show, Lorca’s last as artistic director of the company, also boasts soulful and moving choral compositions by J.D. Steele.
“Helen” takes an old story and reveals its manifold contemporary relevance. It meditates on the nature of truth, implicitly asking whether the things built on falsehoods must be perpetuated for their own sake.
As a soldier played by John Jamison II asks poignantly at the end of the drama, if the gods created a spirit double that has now returned to the clouds, was all the carnage for naught? And if a war starts based on a lie, must others die to honor the blood that’s already been spilled?
“Helen” also essays storytelling and fame, and the ways that those constructs function to advance a cause even if they trap the famous in their own gilded prisons.
Winking, emoting and calling us into her hopes, George Keller gives us a Helen who is a fully embodied contemporary woman. She knows the burden of being beautiful and desired but also has the strength to be disciplined in ways ordinary people can only appreciate. Her Helen might even be akin to a (non-singing) pop star like Dua Lipa or Beyoncé (the show’s “Single Ladies” dance quote is one of its fun touches).
