Tag Archives: Greek Myth

May 13

Hades is the Drama: “Orpheus in the Overworld”

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Eurydice and Orpheus. Photo by Erin Solomon.

Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre 
By Dante Gonzalez
Directed by Shira Helena Gitlin
Composer/Music Director – Abacus Dean-Polacheckan
Dramaturgy by AJ Helm
Fight and Intimacy Coordinator – Kayleigh Kane
Lighting Designer – Z Weber 
Costume Design by  Mikayla Reid 
Production Stage Management by Micaela Slotin 
Assistant Stage Manager – Katelyn Paddock
Featuring: Elijah Brown, Isabel Ginsberg, Lucy Bertolet, Kulfi Jaan, Matthew Suchecki, Rebekah Brunson

April 27 – May 11, 2024 
Boston Center for the Arts 
539 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Fresh Ink’s Orpheus in the Overworld asks what if the Greek gods’ wills were as free as humanity’s? Dante Gonzalez reimagines the “Orpheus and Euridice” myth as a queer as the day is long burlesque with music and dance. It is for the queer community yet can be enjoyed by anyone. Continue reading →

Sep 15

How mortal Gods can be: “The Half-God of Rainfall”

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This trailer is so cool!
Presented by American Repertory Theater
A co-production with the New York Theatre Workshop
By Inua Ellams
Directed by Taibi Magar
Movement Direction by Orlando Pabotoy
Orisha Movement Consulting/Choreography by Beatrice Capote
Intimacy Direction by Ann James
Voice & Dialect Direction by Dawn-Elin Fraser
Dramaturgy by Iyvon E.
Projection design by Tal Yarden
Physical therapy by Artistic Athlete Health Collective

Sept. 8 – 24, 2023
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Harvard Square
Cambridge, MA

This production contains haze, fog, flashing lights, and loud sounds, and stages sexual and physical violence. A.R.T. recommends it for ninth grade and up.

Review by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The American Repertory Theater presents Inua Ellams’ The Half-God of Rainfall at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square through Sept. 24. Directed by Taibi Magar, it tackles human concerns of identity, immortality, and generational trauma through the marriage of Greek and Yoruba storytelling and NBA basketball. 

The Half-God of Rainfall is about Demi (Mister Fitzgerald), a half-Nigerian/half-Greek son of serial abuser, Zeus King of the Greek Gods. Demi reconciles his holy parentage as he achieves fame and fortune as an NBA player. His journey takes him from rural Nigeria, across the United States, to Mount Olympus.  Continue reading →

Aug 29

Geeks Read Books: “Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence” by Dr. Rebecca Schmid

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Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence
by Dr. Rebecca Schmid, PhD in Musicology
226 Pages
67 music exx. and 4 b/w illus.
Series: Eastman Studies in Music
Series Vol. Number: 189
Imprint: University of Rochester Press

Hardcover
9781648250606
June 2023
$105.00 / £90.00

Ebook (EPDF)
9781800109315
June 2023
$29.95 / £24.99

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Dr. Rebecca Schmid’s Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence examines the influence of Kurt Weill on the careers and egos of Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein (in addition to other notable artists such as Lotte Lenya, Stephen Sondheim, Igor Stravinsky, Bertolt Brecht, and even playwright and critic Dorothy Parker). It became available in June 2023 and may be purchased via the University of Rochester Press on the Boydell & Brewer website.

Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence is a largely successful work that will complement the library of Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein scholars if those scholars skip over Schmid’s first chapter “Why Influence?” Schmidt begins the chapter by quoting T.S. Eliot: “No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone… His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists.”  Continue reading →

Jan 30

Did she go crazy or did she go crazy at you?: “The Art of Burning”

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Presented by The Huntington
In association with Hartford Stage
Written by Kate Snodgrass
Directed by Melia Bensussen
Original music by Jane Shaw
Fight direction and intimacy consultancy by Ted Hewlett
Dramaturgy by Charles Haugland
January 13–February 12, 2023

The Huntington @ Calderwood/BCA
527 Tremont St. 
Boston, MA 02216
The Playbill 

Production trigger warnings: slut shaming, victim blaming, mansplaining, manipulative and controlling behavior

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, MA — Theatre doesn’t dive into feminine wrath the same way other media does. M3GAN, a current popular horror movie about a prescient AI doll, Jennifer’s Body (2009), and Teeth (2007) all hit the mainstream in ways that other horror plays haven’t. 

Popular theatre gets the Medea myth, the Greek tale about a half goddess, enchantress and unfortunate mother of Jason’s (of the Argonauts fame) who became so enraged by her husband’s infidelity she mercy-kills his children. Honestly, what did Jason expect? They don’t call it divine retribution for nothing.   

The Art of Burning follows five adults and one teen through vicious divorce proceedings. Patricia (Adrianne Krstansky in a wig that is doing no one any favors) and Jason (Rom Barkhordar) are about to finalize their divorce when Patricia requests full custody of their daughter Beth (Clio Contogenis). Jason’s girlfriend Katya (Vivia Font) is pregnant and Jason wants to keep it. Divorce lawyer and friend Mark (Michael Kaye) and his wife Charlene (Laura Latreille) are having marriage problems of their own.  Continue reading →

Jul 21

Superfans in Cosplay Having the Best Time: “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical”

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Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company
Adapted from the book, The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan 
Book by Joe Tracz
Music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Music direction by Wiley DeWeese
Choreography by Patrick McCollum
Fight direction by Rod Kinter
New puppetry design by AchesonWalsh Design Studios

July 17 – 28, 2019
Huntington Avenue Theatre
264 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA
The Huntington on Facebook

Critique by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Saturday afternoon’s performance of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical was an event for superfans and their friends. Children in Camp Half-Blood t-shirts and their adults congregated to the Huntington Theatre to watch this musical about modern day children of Greek gods. It’s not a production for everyone; it’s specifically written for devotees to the Rick Riordan book. Theatre-lovers will appreciate the ingenuity of the design team but they should attend knowing that this musical isn’t for them; It’s for fans in their childhood years. Continue reading →

May 06

Tale of clipped wings an homage to a tragic page in American history: ICARUS

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Photo appropriated from LAB Facebook page

Presented by Liars & Believers
Based on the Greek Myth “Icarus”
Conceived and Directed by Jason Slavick
Music and lyrics by Nathan Leigh

May 1-11
Club Oberon
2 Arrow St
Cambridge, MA
Liars & Believers on Facebook

Review by Noe Kamelamela

(Cambridge) ICARUS was developed and premiered by five year old company Liars & Believers (LAB) in Cambridge last year.  It is fitting that it would come back to roost after a successful flight through Boston and New York.  Clearly using their official residency with the ART to their advantage, LAB refreshes their hit for a longer and stronger run. Continue reading →

Feb 14

Wandering into the “Lunar Labyrinth”

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Based on “A Lunar Labyrinth” by Neil Gaiman
Directed by Steven Bogart
Music composed by Mary Bichner, Mali Sastri, John J. King, Phillip Berman and Jesse Amerding
Harp incidental music by Phillip Berman

Presented by Liars & Believers

February 13 @ 8pm (only one performance, alas!)
Club Oberon
Cambridge, MA
Liars & Believers Facebook Page

Review by Special Guest: Noe Kamelamela

(Cambridge) Lunar Labyrinth was truly a collaborative performance, a meeting of varied art forms.  A theatrical adaptation of a chilling story which Neil Gaiman specifically wrote for Liars & Believers, this production made for a night filled with nontraditional staged performance buoyed by the aide of formatted storytelling styles and brave performers. Continue reading →

Nov 12

Aerial Stunts and Re-Kindling Mythic Passion: Ted Hughes’ Tales from Ovid

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With Jennifer OConnor, Aimee Rose Ranger and Danny Bryck at Paramount Center.

based on Tales from Ovid, by Ted Hughes published by Faber & Faber, Ltd.
Composer: David McMullin
Composer/Musician/Ensemble: Shaw Pong Liu

presented by Whistler in the Dark Theatre
directed by Meg Taintor
in association with ArtsEmerson: The World Onstage

November 8-18th
Jackie Liebergott Black Box at the Paramount Center
559 Washington Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Whistler in the Dark Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

Ancient Greek myths, when adapted to the stage, need not be built-up to be timely. The dissonance between myth and the modern era can be distracting in contemporary adaptations. If anything, here, the stories chosen from Ovid’s Metamorphoses are stripped down. The production has few props and no costumes, giving the ensemble room to breathe. Whistler in the Dark is the perfect sort of theater to spur to life the passions beneath the age-old Greek myths, which will surely please both casual and Classicist audiences. Continue reading →

Sep 02

One Performance Left! Luminarium Dance Company’s Mythos/Pathos

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Luminarium Dance Company presents
Mythos:Pathos
August 31 @ 8pm
September 1 @ 8pm
September 2 @ 4pm
in Black Box Theater
at Arsenal Center for the Arts

Watertown, MA

Purchase tickets at http://www.LuminariumDance.org/buy-tickets or call 617-477-4494 to reserve

(copy from Arsenal Center for the Arts)

Luminarium Dance will debut its new full-length performance Mythos:Pathos throughout August. The work will explore lesser-known characters and under-examined storylines of Greek mythology from a contemporary viewpoint. Artistic Directors Merli V. Guerra and Kimberleigh A. Holman are proud to weave these familiar myths into a cohesive saga, while coloring the production with innovative choreography. Mythos:Pathos also features nontraditional lighting design by Matthew Breton, that manifests in unique ways onstage, from wearable to handheld lighting. This new work will incorporate materials donated by the communities of Somerville and Watertown that will be used to construct installations on and offstage.

Luminarium plans to preview the project in Somerville. In late August, Luminarium will bring an evolved form of the project to the Arsenal Center for the Arts, for a one-week residency, including a gallery exhibit in the lobby. This performance at the Arsenal Center for the Arts offers a pre-show installation performance art series, followed by a full dance performance in the Black Box Theater.

Apr 25

Eurydice: Tears From A Clown

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Adam Lauver as Lord of the Underworld, Annie Winneg as Eurydice, and the chorus of stones. Photo by Rob Lorino.

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, The Independent Drama Society, BCA Black Box, 4/22/11-4/30/11.  http://sites.google.com/site/independentdrama/

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

The circus is in town and it is a beautiful tragedy.  The Independent Drama Society’s production of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice evokes an abstract piece of shattered but connected moments.  Remaining faithful to the myth, Lindsay Eagle allows the audience to experience every breath of innocence, knowledge, and loss that the play has to offer.

The Greek chorus of stones consists of a highly skilled clowning troupe.  Upon entrance to the theatre, the audience is greeted by the members of the chorus as they play and perform.  Each member has a distinct personality that interacts in different ways between the audience and the main characters of the play.

Annie Winneg as Eurydice and Greg Nussen as Orpheus play the doomed young lovers who believe that love is all they need.  Although they do truly care for each other, they have difficulty communicating with each other or having any level of depth to their relationship, which leads to Eurydice’s struggle between her love for her husband and her love for her father.   Continue reading →