Sun. Feb. 11

When Joan MacIntosh, who plays Aggripina in Jean Racine's "Britannicus" at the American Repertory Theatre, first looked at the play, she admits she was a more than a bit daunted. "It seemed like a wall of words on the page," she says. "At first, I couldn't find a way in so that I could understand the story and what was happening. I went on-line and did as much research as I could on Aggripina because her life was so extraordinary." But one of the reasons she took the play was plain and simple: "I wanted to work with (outgoing artistic director) Robert Woodruff. I've known him 35 years, never worked with him and this was an opportunity to collaborate."
Racine wrote "Britannicus" in 1669 in the days of Louix XIV. The scheming, power-mad figures of ancient Rome bore some relation to the goings on of that era, just as it does today. "We're covering three times spans," says MacIntosh. "When I'm playing the role I let all three resonate." (A large-lettered banner "EMPIRE CREATES IT'S OWN REALITY" hangs in back - Woodruff heard the words from a spokesman from the Bush administration.)"Britannicus" is a tangled web of blood ties, betrayal and murder. At the core of it, Aggripina married and killed Claudius, birthed Nero, and faces her son in a power showdown, after Nero has eliminated Britannicus' claim to the throne. When MacIntosh discusses her character and the others in the play she uses terms such as "savageness," "moroseness" and "rage." The world they inhabit? insanely vicious, evil." Her character, MacIntosh says, was "considered to be the smartest person alive, one of the reasons Claudius married her."

How much fun is Agrippina to play? "Fabulous fun, wicked fun," says MacIntosh, who lives with actor James Cromwell. "All the things, if you ever had the impulse you wanted but couldn't do, you can do on stage. I don't know if she has so much fun in her own life. What is it that makes people want power so badly? Something to do with facing the void of our nothingness, our impotentce, our being out of control. For someone that driven for power, there must be some underlying feeling that without that they're nothing, they're lost. At the most profound level, it's denying that we're mortal and we die. And that we're not that important. We're insisting we can control our destinity. It feeds on itself and gets worse and worse. Most people recognize things they can control and things they can't, but the it's the psyche of these folks that they felt entitled to whatever they wanted."The story is the tragedy of Britannicus. He loses all he could have had. She tried so hard to hold onto power, but she lost it as well. Everybody loses in the play."

This is, of course, a post-modern Rome. During the course of the night, you'll see video projections, electric guitar (from Nero), and a modern stage set. You'll hear a loud gunshot at one point. The video mostly is of Junia, who loves Britaniccus despite his loss of power. It represents, perhaps, both Nero's obsession with her, and our modern obsession with having every possible moment on film or tape - just in case its a youtube moment.

Does MacIntoch see echoes of "Britannicus" in today's world? "In a word,yes," she says. "The parallels with ancient Rome and our United States empire ... Our administration clearly creates its own reality. We can't often believe what we read." Tickets: $76-$29 (students $15).  The last show is today, Sunday Feb. 11 at 2 p.m.

64 Brattle St., Cambridge, 617-547-8300 amrep.org