The Tank Presents Sophocles' PHILOCTETES, 9/23-24

The Tank and Full Circle Theatre Company present Public Domain, a monthly staged reading series featuring plays in the public domain with no copyright restrictions. Once a play has entered public domain, it belongs to everyone. It becomes ours to do with as we please. As such, we thought it'd be cool if we offered up some of the creative decision-making to our audiences. We've selected our first seven plays, and seven directors with very different approaches. We had our audiences assign a play to each director. 
 
September 23, 24 at 7:30pm; September 25 at 3pm: Garrett Zuercher directs Philoctetes by Sophocles
October 20, 21, 22, 24 at 7:30pm: Andrew Scoville directs The Tragical Comedy of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

November 17 at 9:30pm; November 18, 19, 21 at 7:30pm: Andrew Neisler directs Ivanov by Anton Chekhov

Sophocles' PHILOCTETES spins a classic tale of intrigue and deception, morality and betrayal, as Odysseus plots with an uneasy Neoptolemos to seize the weapon that, according to prophecy, will help them win the never-ending Trojan War: a bow that lies in the possession of Philoctetes. This will not be an easy task, however, since Philoctetes bears a deep grudge against Odysseus for abandoning him on an island years earlier.

This staged reading, directed by Garrett Zuercher, will be performed simultaneously in both voicEd English and American Sign Language by an integrated cast of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing actors, making it accessible and enjoyable for all audience members. Meanwhile, reflecting the diversity of the audience is the Chorus, a group of sailors representing a wide variety of hearing and signing abilities, all working together and reinforcing each other as they watch the action of the play unfolding before them, occasionally breaking in to provide voices, so to speak, of morality. Philoctetes himself is deaf, Odysseus is hearing, and Neoptolemos is...well, we don't want to give everything away. Still, it can safely be said that the added element of deaf versus hearing gives many new and thought-provoking layers of meaning and depth to the themes in an already complex script and only heightens the suspense and drama. Not to mention that there will be quite a few surprises along the way. Without a doubt, audiences are sure to leave this play deep in discussion about what they have just seen. Will you be among them?

Founded in 2003, The Tank is a non-profit arts presenter whose mission is to provide a welcoming, creative, collaborative, and affordable environment for artists and activists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas. Through a wide range of low-cost, high-concept arts and public affairs programming, The Tank seeks to cultivate a new generation of audience for live performance, civic discourse, and the work of emerging artists.