Big Love is base on THE SUPPLIANT WOMEN

Mee has made a mark not by merely updating the works of the great Greek dramatists, but instead by beating them up, throwing them against a wall, ripping them to shreds, reassembling them, and blasting them off into the present day to see if they still speak to society. Big Love(which bears no relation to the HBO series about polygamy) is based on Aeschylus' The Suppliant Women, one of the world's oldest surviving dramas. In Mee's hands, it's scary how relevant it is.

Big Love begins with Lydia (Rebecca Naomi Jones) making a run for it. Stripping naked from her tattered wedding dress and slipping into a bathtub, she and her 49 sisters (represented only by three on stage, also played by Libby Winters and Stacey Sargeant) have arrived at a villa on the Italian coast in order to escape their arranged marriages to their 50 cousins. This arrangement denies them their free will; they wish to be taken in by estate holder Piero (Christopher Innvar) as refugees from rape. Shortly thereafter, their grooms (Bobby Steggert, Ryan-James Hatanaka, and Emmanuel Brown) arrive via helicopter and land on the property. All bets are off.

In keeping with Mee's signature experimental style, Big Love is more of a collage than a play, a compendium of moments that form a whole rather than traditionally plotted with a linear storyline. It's a work that traffics in extremes. "Happy" and "sad" aren't emotions present on stage; "jubilant" and "suicidal" are more where Big Love lives. The women and men use the set in physical ways, throwing themselves against the walls and floors of Brett J. Banakis' gorgeous art installation of a set in a series temper tantrums. They sing "You Don't Own Me" at the top of their lungs in acts of defiance. Landau's unapologetically chaotic vision, which also includes summer-chic costumes by Anita Yavich and cool Mediterranean lighting by Scott Zielinski, is the perfect complement to Mee's text, a well-run circus that is seemingly spinning violently out of control.

Landau also brilliantly utilizes the whole stage space to her advantage, setting the action all around the theater thanks to Banakis' fourth-wall-breaking designs. We enter the theater through what resembles a Jewish chuppah filled with wedding photos. A flower garden hangs upside down over our heads. A mural on the upstage wall depicts the crystal blue waters of the sea. Expansive video projections by Austin Switser fill the white walls amid Kevin O'Donnell's intense sound design. Fight directors Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet provide frenzied physicality that extends into the auditorium.

It would be easy for actors to get lost within such great madness, but Landau skillfully guides her first-rate company through this crazy world. Even when the characters are types, the cast members find unique nuances. Winters is hilarious as a dumb blonde with more to offer than her dimness. Sargeant is a force to be reckoned with as the man-hating sister. Lynn Cohen is a loveable old Italian mama. Steggert delivers beautifully as Nikos, Lydia's betrothed, who just wants to make it work. As Lydia, Jones, a musical theater character actress, finally gets to take on a leading role and show off her brave and quirky dramatic chops.

In the end, it's almost shocking to realize the contemporary relevance of Big Love, especially when women are still fighting for proper widespread recognition and respect. Thankfully, Mee crafts a well-rounded argument, one where both sexes are properly represented on stage. As in life, there are no easy answers to these big problems, but sometimes you just have to believe that love will see you through.