Inferno Theatre Presents METAMORPHOSES

By: Sep. 03, 2019
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Inferno Theatre Presents METAMORPHOSES

Inferno Theatre presents Metamorphoses, adapted by Giulio Cesare Perrone from Ovid's masterpiece, a fantastic retelling of humans, animals, plants, and mythical creatures on an epic quest to save the ecosystem (and ultimately themselves) from extinction. Metamorphoses opens Friday, October 11 at Berkeley's Studio Azul, and runs Fridays through Sundays through October 27. Special additional performances will be held on October 13 and 20 at The David Brower Center. Tickets are available for $25 online at www.infernotheatre.org, by phone at (510) 825-0449, and can be purchased at the door.

"I adapted Metamorphoses to reflect the diversity of our Bay Area community, which is truly a microcosm of the entire world," says Giulio Cesare Perrone, adaptor and director. "We are proud to have our diverse cast help drive home the message that global warming is a problem for all humans - indeed, for every species, everywhere - and we must address it."

Metamorphoses takes on interrelated environmental issues such as evolution, its effects on different species through natural selection, and its effects in response to human interaction/habitat loss. Nature, in the form of the character Gaia, uses her forces and power to counter human damage to the ecology of the planet and to other species. The result is a dramatic, ferocious dialogue between mythological characters, humans, and animals, exacerbated by the manner in which humans relate to and treat the ecosystem, and with nothing less than the future of all life on the planet at stake. Design elements for the show will incorporate natural, sustainable, and recycled materials.

While the majority of performances take place at the Studio Azul, there are two special performances at The David Brower Center in Berkeley, in conjunction with the National Geographic's Photo Ark exhibition by Joel Sartore which focuses on species conservation. The David Brower Center provides a home for the environmental movement by advocating for the beauty, diversity and ecological integrity of Earth. It is Inferno Theatre's intention that by integrating theater with environmental issues and promoting information and discussion through theatrical work, the company and its East Bay community can connect to a larger movement in the United States to discuss environmental issues with creativity, empathy, and urgency.

Giulio Cesare Perrone, Inferno Theatre's Producing Artistic Director, is a playwright, set and costume designer as well as a stage director. He began his career in his native Italy, and has directed and designed for theatre and opera there and in the United States. With more than 200 productions to his credit, he has worked for the San Jose Repertory Theatre, Opera San Jose, California Shakespeare Festival, TheatreWorks, A Traveling Jewish Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, the Magic Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Festival Opera, Dell'Arte International, the ACT Academy, Foghouse Productions, and The Alley Theatre. He was the recipient of a 2000 Pew National Artists Residency grant with Dell'Arte International for his adaptation of Milton's Paradise Lost As well as a 2002 Pew-Theatre Communications Group grant for his adaptation of The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova. Giulio graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti "Brera" in Milan in 1988.

Inferno Theatre was founded on the premise that live theatre that leads to dynamic and positive change in the lives of all who participate in it, whether spectators or performers. The company believes that arts and education are essential parts of everyone's daily life, that theatre can both transform reality and be an integral part of the cultural and sociological context of society. Inferno supports the centrality of the theatre art form rooted in work, research and collaborative practices that set the artists at the core of the organization; theatre that embraces the complexity and diversity of the human being; theatre that creates community (both physically present and imagined); and theatre that links humans together through a need for one another to complete a shared common interest or vision of the world. For more information, visit www.infernotheatre.org.

Photo credit: Ben Elie



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