Persians is the world’s oldest surviving play.

Written by the Greek poet Aeschylus, it imagines the reactions of the Persian leaders to their army’s destruction at the hands of the Greeks. One of the few Greek tragedies to actually be set in their current day rather than mythic times, it’s essentially Ancient Greek contemporary political fiction.

It’s a strange play and I couldn’t quite work out what Aeschlyus’ intention was with the piece. Did he want the Greek audience to sympathise with their enemies grief or was he trying to rub the Persians’ face in their loss?

The Happy Dagger Theatre production of Persians playing at Fringe World clearly follows the interpretation that the audience should sympathise with the plight of the Persian empire.

The most impressive aspect of Persians is it’s staging. Entering the performance space, the audience could see the chorus members finishing setting up thousands on plastic green army men on the floor. The toys represent the Persian army and they’re an effective way of conveying the huge loss the Persian Empire suffered.

The toy soldiers are pushed around the stage, creating the illusion of bloodied earth or a map of the Greek lands where Xerxes army met his downfall.

The issue with Persians (and this is an issue with the original text) is that it’s so histrionic. The whole play pretty much consists of a chorus crying over their war dead until Xerxes returns from war for a rather anticlimactic monologue.

The classical structure for tragedy is to show the fall of a great man because of their hubris in defying the will of the Gods. The problem with Persians is that we’re simply told over and over of Xerxes fall and not shown it happening. The play feels unfinished at the end.

Persians alienates the audience and that’s clearly intentional. Moments like the Chorus Leader’s quasi rap whilst resurrecting the dead King Dareius are probably meant to estrange the audience and make them see the universality of the play’s themes but for me, it just came off as bizarre.

Maitland Schnaars makes for a powerful presence as Dareius and his performance stands out as one of the play’s highlights. The chorus does some very good work physically, though the constant exaggerated wailing made me feel like I was being shouted at.

Persians has a lot working for it like inventive staging, strong music and an interesting historical context. Though I suspect the play’s reliance on alienating theatrical effects makes it very much an acquired taste.