‘Greek Nightmare’, Q&A with cast and crew

Greek Nightmare, a one-man show starring George Loynes, written by Nick Samuel, is coming to The Wanstead Curtain this Fringe season. The play explores one of history’s most infamous acts of betrayal - recounting the story of Ephialtes, the man who led the Persians around the Spartan defences at Thermopylae. Branded a traitor and now wracked with guilt, this play looks deeper into the psyche of the real figure behind this historical legend. It ruminates on ideas of what happens when someone is forced to confront the harsh choices that defined their future legacy. Isolated on a mountain peak, Ephialtes constantly replays the events that sealed his fate and marked his doom, but can he finally confront the consequences of his actions?

Ahead of the show’s run in September, I spoke to the cast and creative team behind Greek Nightmare about the origins of the play, the resurgence of interest in ancient Greece, the challenge of bringing an ancient historical figure to the stage and the themes of guilt, betrayal, responsibility and legacy that lie at the heart of the story.

Greek Nightmare revisits one of the most famous stories from Ancient Greek history but tells it from Ephialtes’ perspective. What made you want to explore this particular story and why now?

Nick Samuel: I think it’s fascinating that, at least in Herodotus’ account, it was entirely, without any room for doubt, Ephialtes’ fault that the Persians broke through Thermopylae. Herodotus throws so much shade on Ephialtes in the Histories for his crime here, and he is portrayed as being so extraordinarily evil that some historians debate whether Ephialtes was even real, and whether he was instead more of a literary device, and that was something I wanted to explore — what goes into the making of someone who is remembered so cruelly. This is a play idea I’ve had in my drafts for over a year, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to write this script and this story.

What interested you about looking beyond Ephialte’s label as a traitor, and more into his personal psyche? Particularly looking at this later period of his life rather than focusing solely on the events at Thermopylae?

Nick Samuel: Because we know so little about him as a person. Herodotus, who was my main historical source for Ephialtes’ story, gives us a lot of detail about the betrayal itself, but next to nothing about who Ephialtes of Trachis actually was. For me as a writer, that historical gap, including what he was doing before and after Thermopylae, is an absolute gift, because I’ve basically got an entirely blank slate with no boundaries to play with in constructing this character and his story.

Can you tell us about the creative process behind the production? Where did the initial idea come from and how did it develop into the play we see today?

Nick Samuel: This is going to sound rather nerdy, but I think it was actually from when I was playing Assassins’s Creed Odyssey. That game is set some forty years after Thermopylae, and they talk about that battle a lot, so I started reading about it. And when I read that it was a battle that the Greeks lost because of one singular man, my first thought was ‘that can’t possibly be right’. History hardly ever works that cleanly where one person acting alone is responsible for such a watershed moment. But, I must also point out that I never would have dreamed this play possible had I not worked with George before. I’ve seen him act in so many plays now, but the times when he truly hooks me are when he plays a character who is desperately hiding something. Greek Nightmare is dedicated to George, and I wrote Ephialtes with George at the forefront of my process. I sent many drafts his way for review, because it was so important to me that he was on board with what I was writing, and because of his input, Greek Nightmare in its present form far outshines anything I could write alone.

There has been a huge resurgence of interest in ancient Greek legends, myths and stories - how much research went into this historical setting and how did you approach balancing historical fact with theatrical storytelling?

Nick Samuel: There was certainly a lot of research. I’m a musician by training, so historical research and Classical studies don’t come naturally to me. I didn’t feel at all comfortable even starting work on this play until I’d read multiple translations and literary analyses of Herodotus’ Histories, read history books about Ancient Greece and Ancient Greek religion, listened to history podcasts, read archeological reports and even reconstructed the ancient topography of Thermopylae on the present day landscape. The one thing I didn’t do for my research was watch or read 300, because I didn’t want that to skew my interpretation. This is my second history play, and the most important thing I’ve learned is that you can’t write a story that contradicts the history, but that being said, the history is not binding. Find the limit of the history, exhaust what it can tell you, and from there you can write your own story and be as dramatic as you like.

The production centres around guilt and the consequences of a single decision. What conversations are you hoping the play might spark about responsibility, regret and whether people can ever escape their past?

Nick Samuel: The key question is ‘Do we, the audience, forgive Ephialtes?’. I don’t have an answer for this, or at least, I don’t prescribe one as the writer. I want it to invoke those kinds of moral debates. Speaking more broadly, I think if the play teaches anything (which it may not – I like ambiguous theatre), it’s that it is possible to withhold forgiveness from someone and simultaneously totally understand why they did it and sympathise with them. Or maybe the lesson is that all things are forgivable if the reasons are just. I wouldn’t know, I’m just the writer.

What opportunities does theatre offer for questioning the versions of history we think we already know?

Nick Samuel: I believe theatre is the prime place to do this. For example, one historian may combat the traditional narrative that Ephialtes was simply a greedy criminal by pointing out that the Persians were effectively leeching off Trachis, his home town, to fuel their war effort, so maybe his betrayal against the Persians saved his city. That’s more of a learning exercise, but it is in the theatre where you see and feel Ephialtes weighing these things up and subsequently acting on what he thinks is best and suffering the consequences of that. Now we’ve moved from just historical debate to an emotional experience, and for me theatre is always about making the audience feel something.

How do you approach portraying a character who has committed an act that history has judged so harshly, while still allowing audiences to understand, or even potentially sympathise, with him?

Nick Samuel: I suppose I want to give the audience the power to make their own decisions about Ephialtes as much as possible. I don’t want to advocate for one view about him or another. The play presents all the evidence of his case, delivered by Ephialtes himself, and based on that we can come to our own conclusions. For me, something like Greek Nightmare is only about showing that making these historical judgements black and white, villain or victim and so on, is a choice. It may be the correct choice based on the evidence, but it is a choice that we must make nonetheless – and from my experience, things are hardly ever plainly black and white.

Why was the Wanstead Fringe the right setting for Greek Nightmare and what do you enjoy about being part of a fringe festival?

Nick Samuel: I love that the Wanstead Fringe is very much run by the Everyman; local volunteers on a non-profit basis. This is an ideal community to bring Greek Nightmare to because Ephialtes is also an Everyman in many senses. He’s gone down in history since, but before Thermopylae, he was a deeply ordinary man. I’m very fond of the idea that people can see a bit of themselves in Ephialtes. Fringe festivals are so special to me as well because I just love seeing people having visions and ideas and getting the opportunity to present them. It’s a privilege to be part of a festival where talent and creativity is so much in abundance.

Isobel Glover (Producer): Wanstead Fringe represents the heart of the creative arts; community. It’s a festival run by an incredible and dedicated team of volunteers, which creates an immediately welcoming environment for both Wanstead locals and newcomers who may not yet have ventured this way down the Central Line. And, beyond the volunteers, Wanstead Fringe is attended by an incredible range of people, looking to experience something new. When George first brought the idea of a one-man show, written by Nick, to me, Wanstead Fringe was the first place we thought of for a premiere, having had a brilliant experience here last year. We believe and hope that the themes of Greek Nightmare will resonate with our audiences, as while Ephialtes’ story is an ancient one, the emotions powering his actions are achingly close to our own.

Looking beyond the Fringe, what are your ambitions for Greek Nightmare, and for the company?

Nick Samuel: The monodrama form is making something of a resurgence in contemporary theatre, and I do hope Greek Nightmare gets another outing in the future. I hope that the whole team can be proud of what we have created, and I am honoured that they are working so hard to produce one of my plays. We met at university, and the fact that we are all graduated (or soon to) and are beginning to establish ourselves within the wider theatrical world makes this production particularly exciting. It is a wonderful opportunity to continue working together, while also developing individually as theatre-makers, and I hope it will lead to many more opportunities to do so. On a personal note, I am currently working on my next play, titled Memento Mori (With Lobsters), and yes, if I do my job right, it will be as ridiculous as it sounds.

Izzy Moore (Marketing Manager): Greek Nightmare has brought together a group of incredibly talented creatives, each with extensive experience in their respective roles, and it has been a real pleasure to see everyone bring their own ideas and expertise to the production. There is something particularly exciting about taking a story that has been around for thousands of years and giving it a completely new life on stage, with each of us bringing something different to the process. For now, we are simply very excited to share Greek Nightmare with an audience and see what happens when this little group of theatre-makers lets Ephialtes loose on Wanstead!

How does shifting the focus onto Ephialtes, rather than the larger story of what happened at Thermopylae, affect how we view him as a person?

George Loynes: Nick’s script gives us an opportunity to interrogate who Ephialtes really is and what might’ve motivated him to commit the betrayal he is known for. It is our hope that the audience will be able to trace and sympathise with the feelings and pressures that lead him to that decision. We get to view him as a person, with his own faults just like the rest of us, rather than just as the archetypal “traitor”.

The play asks audiences to confront the idea of whether someone can ever move beyond the worst thing they have done. What does Ephialtes’ story suggest about guilt and redemption?

George Loynes: There’s more than one interpretation that the audience will be able to take away from this story with regards to redemption. Some may feel that Ephialtes’ actions in the play are justified, and that he is later persecuted due to a misplaced assumption of loyalty to one’s nationality. Others will find him irredeemable, and many will see his eventual fate as deserved.

How did you develop Ephialtes’ voice and personality beyond the historical accounts of him? Were you impacted by any specific artistic influences that helped shape your tone and style?

George Loynes: It has been an absolute pleasure to perform a show that was specifically written with me in mind, as much of Nick’s script is tailored towards my fascination with complex, flawed, and somewhat pathetic characters. It also demands, however, an enormous degree of physical and vocal energy to pack a well-developed story into an hour without the help of other actors. Much of the show’s rehearsal process has involved turning Ephialtes into an entertaining, and hopefully somewhat likeable, storyteller who can operate at a rapid pace.

The play moves between historical storytelling and a much more intimate exploration of one man’s psychological state. What challenges did that create for you as a performer?

George Loynes: With historical characters as well as purely fictional ones, the process is much the same. You are asking the same questions about what motivates a character, what he is thinking at each moment in the play, and how he expresses his emotions physically. Most of the answers have been provided either by Nick’s script or by experimentation with the performance of it. The sizable chunks of real historical truth in our story are a bonus, really - they make everything just a touch more real.

How do you want audiences to feel towards Ephialtes by the end of the play - should they sympathise with him, condemn him or simply just understand him differently?

George Loynes: I certainly can’t make a judgement about this, as in a way it shouldn’t be up to me to decide. Even I haven’t fully decided how I feel about him yet! I will say, though, that Ephialtes himself, his family, and the nation of Greece, will condemn him by the end of the play. Audiences will likely be able to understand why.

Has your own understanding of Ephialtes changed during the process of creating and performing the piece?

George Loynes: I think so, yes. The script was developed through a creative process wherein Nick produced several iterations which I then rehearsed and fed back on. At some point in this process, I began to truly understand Ephialtes’ motivation for his betrayal. His thought process is concerned with the central theme of remembrance more than I had previously understood.

Finally, after Greek Nightmare, what kinds of stories or characters would you like to explore next?

George Loynes: Greek Nightmare is a culmination of everything I’ve been learning about acting since I became an adult, and its greatest gift is that it might give me more confidence to take on big theatrical challenges (if I can tell a compelling story alone, surrounded by the audience, without the comforts of complex technical elements, I can probably have a go at anything - that’s the idea). In this vein, I’m playing Laertes this Winter and understudying for Hamlet. Performing those dream roles will give me a chance to go back to verse from something as modern as Greek Nightmare, but keep exploring complicated and flawed young men. At the same time, I’m always keen to experiment and fight against my “typecast” by returning to comedy, drag, and physical theatre.