PERFORMANCES 2004

a season devoted to the theme of “The Document, the Documenter, and the Documented: celebrating the preservation of knowledge and lamenting its loss – through performance, display and public forums”

OUT OF THE GARDEN

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 16-18 at 8 p.m

a double bill of EVE and EXILE
Ko Theater Works of Amherst, MA

EVE: Leslie Farlow (choreographer, writer, performer)
In this dance/theater work, Eve dances into the Garden lured by the Apple, argues with the Snake, then confronts the Almighty on his puritanical attitudes towards sex. Prancing around in an Ann Taylor cocktail dress, she’s flung to the ground by the wrath of you-know-who and finally dances joyfully in defiance. Text is written by Lesley Farlow with excerpts from the Gnostic Gospels. Original music composed by Roger Seitz. Costume by Thrift Shop.

EXILE: Leslie Farlow (choreographer, writer, performer)
Video and direction by Mitchell Polin
In movement and monologue, Exile traces a woman’s journey up to the line of the unthinkable act-and over. Based on the story of Medea, with text drawn in ancient Greek from the Euripides play, as well as from the trials and writings of Andrea Yates and Susan Smith.

 

THE HEROIC AND PATHETIC ESCAPADES OF KARAGIOZIS

SATURDAY, JULY 20th at 8 p.m. ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Ralph Lee’s Mettawee River Company of New York
A visit from our annual favorites with their new piece drawn from the the folk puppet theater tradition of Turkey and Greece. In these tales our hero uses all his wit and a minimum of actual work to satisfy his insatiable hunger. Karagiozis presents a world where the underdog sometimes manages to scramble to the top of a realm populated by an array of heroes and fools, beauties and dragons. These tales reflect the outrageous humor and feisty spirit of nations who have survived centuries of empires, invasions and political turmoil. Mettawee will use a range of scales to express the heightened reality of these stories, incorporating puppets, masks and giant figures in the process of bringing them to life.

An all-ages event, outdoors on the Amherst College Observatory Lawn off of Snell Street. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and insect repellant, but leave the pets at home.

 

THE ALEXANDRIA CARRY-ON

FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 23-25 at 8 p.m.

A collaboration by Laurie McCants, Theo Bleckmann,  and F. Elaine Williams with Sabrina Hamilton and Rand Whipple

The vanished Library of Alexandria, once contained almost all of the known books of the world, gathered from the many cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. It disappeared without a trace. This new solo music-theatre piece tells the story of a curious slave (played by avant-garde jazz performer Theo Bleckmann) who repairs the precious papyrus scrolls stored in the honeycombed shelves of the Library. He teaches himself to read, and discovers what has been hidden from him: the tantalizing possibility of knowledge, freedom, and love. Blending ancient text, contemporary music, and modern technology, THE ALEXANDRIA CARRY-ON premiered at the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble in Pennsylvania, and will be performed in the fall at the new Biblioteca Alexandrina in Egypt, followed by a national tour.

Performances of THE ALEXANDRIA CARRY-ON at the Ko Festival are supported in part by a grant from the LEF Foundation.

 

SOUNDING TO A

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 30 – AUGUST 1 at 8 p.m.
and special matinee on SUNDAY, AUGUST 1 at 3 p.m.

Ko Theater Works of Amherst, MA  premieres a multimedia performance piece about refugee trauma from the Jewish ghetto in Shanghai to 1950s Cleveland, and the solace of food. The project is conceived and performed by Eva Ungar Grudin, in collaboration with director and designer, Sabrina Hamilton, Ko Festival Artistic Director, and with Yossi Gutmann, the world-renowned Israeli violist based in Vienna, Austria, who performs in the piece and serves as Music Director.

 

POET IN NEW YORK: A one-man fantasia about gay Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, AUGUST 6-8 at 8 p.m.

Pig Iron Theatre of Philadelphia, PA With Dito van Reigersberg, Directed by Dan Rothenberg

In 1929, Lorca, suffering from a broken heart, arrives in New York City, just in time to see the Stock Market Crash.  In a landscape of tenement buildings, Harlem blues clubs, and overcrowded streets, he is unable to write.   POET IN NEW YORK is about Lorca’s artistic and sexual awakening in the unfamiliar and chaotic metropolis of Manhattan.  Dito van Reigersberg plays eleven characters in this highly physical one-man tour de force.

WINNER – Total Theatre Award, London

“Intelligent and evocative” — The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A stunning performance” — The Herald (Edinburgh)