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Writing for CurtainUp
Perseus
By Jenny Sandman
Chris Wild as Perseus
(Photo: David Gochfeld) |
The production, written and directed by LaMaMa's own Ellen Stewart, is an amalgamation of a number of classical sources, drawing on many different cultural traditions and storytelling elements. It reiterates the myth of Perseus, who slew Medusa and rescued Andromeda from the sea monster and does so mostly through dance and song. The result is that this is less about ancient story or characters than about spectacle. What little dialogue we have is sung in ancient Greek and Latin.
The multicultural cast of over 25 use their varied backgrounds to full advantage. Athena is Chinese, Andromeda is Ethiopian. They also use movement (in addition to dance) to propel the story, in the form of tightrope walking, flying, and acrobatics.
The use of such a a variety of sources, many of them obscure, is often surprising. The two hours provide some very imaginative moments: Gorgons are constructed out of baskets . . . Zeus coming down, literally, in a golden shower when he visits Danae. . . ; Perseus acrobatically "battling" the sea monster.
It all adds up to a visual experience enriched by the stunning array of costumes and masks. Perseus is a multicultural swirl, beautiful and vivid, punctuated by beautiful singing and original music. But the drab theater threatens to swamp the play's imagery, and dampens the overall effect. All the elements are there--excellent cast and original stagecraft--but they don't quite gel.
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PERSEUS Written and directed by Ellen Stewart, with excerpts from Ovid, Hesiod, Apollodorus, and Pindar With Benjamin Marcantoni, Renaurd Gee, Philip Gerba, J.T. Netterville, Eugene the Poogene, Chris Wild, Kim Ima, Arthur Adair, Valois Mickens, Gian Marco Lo Forte, Allison Hirota, Marjorie Jean, Yasmine Soiffer, Kat Yew, Meredith Wright, Denise Greber, Onni Johnson, Peter Case, Juliana Lau, Kazuma G. Motomura, Cary Gant, Prisca Ouya, and Federico Restrepo Music composed by Elizabeth Swados, Michael Sirotta, Heather Pauuwe, Yukio Tsuiji, and Carlos Valdez Sound Design by Tim Schellenbaum Lighting Design by Carol Mullins Costume Design by Camille Assaf Choreography by Renaurd Gee Running time: Two hours with one ten-minute intermission LaMaMa ETC, 74A West 4th Street, 212-475-7710. Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 and 7:30 pm. All tickets $25. 04/29/05 through 05/15/05 Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on May 1st performance |
Easy-on-the budget super gift for yourself and your musical loving friends. Tons of gorgeous pictures.
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
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Our Review
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Leonard Maltin's 2005 Movie Guide
Ridiculous!The Theatrical Life & Times of Charles Ludlam
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
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