The Greek tragedy is certainly its own kind of viewing experience. For one thing, if you use your imagination and let your mind wander during the soliloquies, you’ve got quite the action adventure on your hands, as you picture everything from graphic incest to dismembered limbs. But then there are those soliloquies, where the characters take what seems an epic amount of time to mourn their twisted fates.

Natural Theatricals offers both these pleasures and these pains with its uneven, but ultimately well-crafted production of Phoenician Women. The work centers on everyone surrounding the infamous figure of Oedipus, primarily his mother, Jocasta, and her two sons, Polyneikes and Eteokles, who are primed to come to blows over the crown of Thebes.

The production’s greatest issue is that its tone is inconsistent. Many of the show’s actors deliver their lines with a sort of classical grandeur; others speak as if they’re simply part of a modern drama. This could be an issue of direction, but is likely the result of a disparity of skill between actors, some seasoned performers and others younger and a bit more inexperienced. This unintended juxtaposition between old and new even shows up in the show’s costumes; highlights include the beautiful gold dresses worn by the chorus, and flowing robes and skillful makeup producing one spooky-looking Oedipus, but other touches are entirely too 21st-century.