THEBAN PLAYS Set for the Brick in January
Created through a long-term process of video improvisation, Theban Plays seeks to find the place where the themes of Sophocles' drama resonate in the lives of the ensemble and those around us living in New York City in 2016. The performers each create a unique and distinct theatrical world using live webcast (Oedipus), sound installation and live painting (Jocasta), and Super 8mm films (Antigone), while directly engaging the audience in conversation.
Horvitz, who has worked with such directors as Lukasz Korczak (collaborator of Krystian Lupa) and Romeo Castellucci, adapted a version of Lupa's video improvisation technique to co-create text for Theban Plays with the actors. "In making the video improvisations the idea is that if you ask the right questions about these characters, the stories come from the actors. It's never strict biography, fantasy is always mixed in, and there is a charged residue that is directly related to the themes of the text. Out of this residue, we create characters and worlds", says Horvitz. "By coming to understand how these myths are influencing our lives today, we can come to better understand ourselves and what our culture is up to," says the director. Meanwhile, Castellucci's impact is compositional and dramaturgical wherein classical themes are filtered through a contemporary lens.
Theban Plays seeks to explore-by confronting materials from the past (foundation myths, forgotten histories)-the role of ideology, imagination, and fantasy in contemporary American lives. Horvitz and company aim to create performances that are complete, autonomous, living worlds, which break open the possibility of re-imagining the past, present, and future.
Theban Plays features Deidrea Hamid (performer/filmmaker), Eliza McKelway (performer/singer) and Ryan Pater (performer) and is directed by Asa Horvitz (director/sound design/dramaturgy) with music by Adrian Knight (composer), additional video by Cassie McQuater, web consultation by Bryan West, lights and stage management by Sarah Jane Schostack.
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