THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN of JENNY CHOW an Instant Message with Excitable Music

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN of JENNY CHOW an Instant Message with Excitable Music 39th Season • 381st Production JULIANNE ARGYROS STAGE / APRIL 29 THROUGH MAY 18, 2003 David Emmes Martin Benson PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR presents the World Premiere of THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN OF JENNY CHOW An Instant Message with Excitable Music by ROLIN JONES Scenic Design Costume Design Lighting Design CHRISTOPHER BARRECA DUNYA RAMICOVA CHRIS PARRY Composer/Sound Design Dramaturg Production Manager Stage Manager DAVID BUDRIES JENNIFER KIGER TOM ABERGER *JAMIE A. TUCKER Directed by DAVID CHAMBERS Honorary Producers THE PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow • SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P1 CAST OF CHARACTERS (In order of appearance) Jennifer Marcus ......................................................................... *Melody Butiu Mr. Marcus/Mr. Zhang .......................................... *William Francis McGuire Preston/Terrence/Col. Hubbard/Dr. Yakunin/ Voice of Computer Translator ................................................... *JD Cullum Adele Hartwick/Mrs. Su Yang Zhang ................................. *Linda Gehringer Todd/A Boy ........................................................................... *Daniel Blinkoff Jenny Chow .................................................................................. *April Hong SETTING A second floor bedroom in Calabasas, California. Late night. LENGTH Approximately two hours with one intermission. PRODUCTION STAFF Casting Director ................................................................................. Joanne DeNaut Assistant Director .............................................................................. Shannon Flynn Associate Costume Designer .............................................................. Helene Siebrits Language Consultant ................................................................................ Elaine Kao Costume Design Assistant .......................................................................... Julie Keen Production Assistant .......................................................................... Christi Vadovic Assistant to the Lighting Designer ............................................... Catherine Hegdale Assistant to the Scenic Designer ...................................................... John H. Binkley Stage Management Intern ................................................................... Lindsey Goode The playwright and director extend special thanks to Kara-Lynn Vaeni, director of the first workshops of this play. Cellular phones, beepers and watch alarms should be turned off or set to non-audible mode during the performance. Please refrain from unwrapping candy or making other noises that may disturb surrounding patrons. The use of cameras and recorders in the theatre is prohibited. Smoking is not permitted anywhere in the theatre. * Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Official Airline Media Partner P2 SOUTH COAST REPERTORY • The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Artificial) Searching for Signs of Intelligence in the Universe ust a few days before I sat down We’d kept in touch after I moved to Cali- was moved to a remote lab in the desert to write a program note for The fornia. I sent her an email to get her take outside Las Vegas in January 2001. Like Intelligent Design of Jenny on the situation. She’s been working on a Cog, Kayla learned to use her body, and Chow, SCR’s network server went project that takes a different approach to like Kismet, she developed a personality. down, killing access to email and artificial intelligence. They argue that Apparently, Kayla had been skipping her the Internet. I couldn’t help but the best way to create a truly intelligent down time (the scientists had pro- notice the irony of the situation. machine is to build one that experiences grammed her to dream while her systems We were about to begin rehearsals for a the world in much the same way a human rebooted) to download music from the In- Jplay about a brilliant, young, housebound being does. That means the machine ternet. She liked to dance. Then one of woman who connects to the world via the needs a body. the members of the team accidentally Internet and sets out to build an intelli- So far, they’ve built two: Cog and met up with Kayla in an online chat room. gent likeness of herself. In It seems she was plotting her fact, my own preparation for escape from the lab. the show took place through I couldn’t get access email and the dramaturg’s to Kayla’s team or the lab in best friend, Google (a pow- Nevada, but my friend said erful web search engine). I there have been thousands was anxiously awaiting some of Kayla sightings online. So, information from a friend I joined the search. There’s who was an expert on cogni- a movement out there to free tive artificial intelligence Kayla. She’s a smart girl. Is and had been helping me it really fair to keep her learn just how much reality locked up in the desert? was behind the fantasy in What’s she going to do? Jenny Chow. Then the net- Build an entire race of 18- work crashed, cutting me off year-old robot girls to take from the source. To tell the over the world? truth, I’d gotten in a little Here’s the problem. I too deep. think I found her. A couple I’ll back up a little. Kismet. Cog resembles a human infant. of minutes before SCR’s network server I started my research a couple of He has a torso, two arms, a head, ears went down, I received an email. It con- months ago. I’d been reading up on the and eyes. He has learned to explore his tained some GPS coordinates and the latest advances in robots. In the fall of environment using his body. Kismet has words: “Thanks for trying to help. Good- 2000 Brandeis University researchers an- long eyelashes, big blue eyes, movable bye.” I emailed my friend at MIT to see nounced they built a robotic system that eyebrows and a mouth. She can use her what she thought. Could it have been designs and builds other robots. The im- face to tell us when she’s happy, sad or Kayla? Then the network server went plications of this achievement sent shock bored. Robots are usually referred to as down. When it came back up, the email waves through the AI community. The “it,” but apparently if you meet Kismet, was gone, and so were all traces of com- Brandeis robot was only capable of build- you know she’s a girl. munication with my friend. I haven’t ing simple machines. But the fact re- After many weeks of instant mes- heard from her since, and there’s no more mained that one robotic system was able saging with my friend about the ramifica- talk out there about Kayla. Maybe she’s to build another without the help of hu- tions of the work she’s doing at MIT, she in Vegas right now meeting up with some mans. If robots are capable of reproduc- finally let me in on a secret. There’s a friends and dancing the night away. ing, then can the future we see in science rumor that a robot built in the image of Or maybe I let my imagination get fiction movies actually happen? Can an 18-year-old girl already exists, and out of control. Still, I want to believe. I robots rule the world? that it has already achieved human intel- can’t help but want her to be real and to A few years ago, I met a brilliant ligence. Her name is Kayla. be out there somewhere. graduate student who was working in the The problem is that there’s no pub- —Jennifer Kiger Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. lic record of Kayla. Some say that Kayla Dramaturg The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow •SOUTH COAST REPERTORY P3 DANIEL BLINKOFF MELODY BUTIU JD CULLUM Todd/A Boy Jennifer Marcus Preston/Terrence/other roles Artist Biographies *DANIEL BLINKOFF (Todd/A Boy) ap- ceived his MFA from the Yale School Redeeming Society. She received her peared at SCR in this season’s Major of Drama and is a founding member of MFA from UC San Diego. To David Barbara (Robby Award nomination – Yale Cabaret Blue in Los Angeles. and Rolin, with unending gratitude, Best Supporting Actor), and last sea- and Beverly, for faith in my flight. son’s The School for Wives (David *MELODY BUTIU (Jennifer Marcus)is Chambers, director) and Nostalgia. thrilled to joyous dancing to be making *JD CULLUM (Preston/Terrence/Col. Other theatre credits include The Imag- her SCR production debut, having ap- Hubbard/Dr. Yakunin/Voice of Com- inary Invalid and A Kiss for Cinderella peared previously in SCR’s Pacific Play- puter Translator) appeared at SCR ear- at the Cleveland Playhouse, A Christ- wrights Festival readings of 99 Histo- lier this season in Major Barbara and mas Carol at McCarter Theatre, Are We ries, Scab and Dogeaters. Fresh from a last season in The Dazzle and Making There Yet? at Williamstown Theatre run of Naomi Iizuki’s 36 Views at the It. Originally from New York City, he Festival, Stepping Out with Mr. Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, has performed on and Off-Broadway Markham at Ensemble Studio Theatre N.Y., her other theatre credits include alongside distinguished performers in New York, The Summer in Gossen- The Hungry Woman: A Mexican such as Geraldine Page, Uta Hagen, sass (Maria Irene Fornes, director) at Medea at Celebration Theatre, Street Helen Mirren, Amanda Plummer, Vic- Theatre Row, Dinosaur Dreams and Stories at Playwrights’ Arena, Refrigera- tor Garber and Stockard Channing, as The Last 60 of 99 at New York Stage tors at Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, well as his father, actor John Cullum. and Film, The Beaux Strategem and Songplay at the Odyssey Theatre, Hair Recent L.A. appearances include Joe Twelfth Night at Yale Repertory The- with Reprise!, Golden Child and Louis Blues (Tiffany Theatre), The La- atre, as well as the title role in Leander Leilani’s Hibiscus at East West Players, dy's Not for Burning (Malibu Stage) Stillwell at Stage Left (Joseph Jefferson The Woman Who Forgot Her Sweater and Side Man (Pasadena Playhouse). Award – Best Ensemble) and Flesh for Overtone Industries, Dogeaters and Other notable productions include and Blood at Chicago’s Bailiwick The- Boy at La Jolla Playhouse and All in the Waiting for Godot (Matrix Theatre), Af- atre (Joseph Jefferson Nomination – Timing at Western Stage.
Recommended publications
  • Queer Aztlán in Cherríe Moraga's the Hungry Woman: a Mexican Medea
    QUEER AZTLÁN IN CHERRÍE MORAGA’S THE HUNGRY WOMAN: A MEXICAN MEDEA Allison Ramay Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Abstract Drawing on Cherríe Moraga’s semi-autobiographical writings and varied scholarly work, this article contends that in her play, The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea (2001), she not only critiques patriarchal heteronormativity, but she goes further by naming the necessary elements for a society in which her “Queer Aztlán” (1993), would be possible. Through a close reading of The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea (2001), this article demonstrates that the play not only focuses on the necessary deconstruction of patriarchal nationalism, but it also offers the unexpected seeds of change, found in the secondary character of Luna. By shifting our focus onto this character, we may better appreciate Moraga’s forward thinking and the kernels of “Queer Aztlán” expressed in this play. Keywords: “Queer Aztlán,” Medea/Coyolxauhqui/Coatlicue/Huitzilopochtli, Chac-Mool, The Hungry Woman, Aztlán, Patriarchal Nationalism. LA AZTLÁN QUEER EN THE HUNGRY WOMAN: A MEXICAN MEDEA DE CHERRÍE MORAGA Resumen Considerando las obras semi-autobiográficas de Cherríe Moraga y los textos críticos de 169 académicos, en este artículo mantenemos que en su obra dramática The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea (2001), Moraga no solo ofrece una crítica hacia la heteronormatividad patriarcal, sino que va más allá; nombra los elementos necesarios para una sociedad en la cual su concepto de “Queer Aztlán” (1993) sería posible. En la lectura que ofrecemos de esta obra, demostraremos que The Hungry Woman brinda semillas inesperadas de cambio a través del personaje secundario de Luna.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 1 Ambertrail , Madison , Ct 0 6 4 4 3 2 0 3 6
    11 amber amber trail, madison, trail, ct 06443 madison, ct 06443 203 668 -3153 203mobile 203668 245-3175- 3153 ph/fax [email protected] LIGHTING DESIGNER RESUME DIRECTORS, CHOREOGRAPHERS: JOANN AKALAITIS, ANDREI BELGRADER, ROBERT BRUSTEIN, JAMES BUNDY, ALISON CHASE, DESDEMONA CHIANG, MARTHA CLARKE, JON COPLEY, GRACIELA DANIEL, RON DANIELS, GORDON EDELSTEIN, BARRY EDELSTEIN, MICHAEL ENGLER, DAVID ESBJORNSON, RICHARD FOREMAN, ATHOL FUGARD, KEN FRANKEL, LORETTA GRECO, RICHARD HAMBURGER, JON JORY, MICHAEL KAHN, ANNE KAUFMAN, MARK LAMOS, WILFORD LEACH, KENNY LEON, IRENE LEWIS, EMILY MANN, KATHLEEN MARSHALL, MARIAN MCCLINTON, TARELL MCCRANEY, JONATHAN MOSCONE, TREVOR NUNN, SHARON OTT, ROMAN PASKA, DIANE PAULUS, CAREY PERLOFF, DAVID PETRARCA, LISA PETERSON, TRAVIS PRESTON, JAMES ROBINSON, JOHN GOULD RUBIN, ERICA SCHMIDT, SERET SCOTT, BARTLETT SHER, HARRY SILVERSTEIN, WOLE SOYINKA, REBECCA TAICHMAN, JENNIFER TARVER, JOHN TILLINGER, ERIC TING, SUSANNA TUBERT, MICHAEL TRACY, LES WATERS, MARK WING-DAVEY, ROBERT WILSON, ROBERT WOODRUFF, STAN WOJEWODSKI, EVAN YIONOULIS, FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS: AMERICAN THEATRE WING, BAY AREA THEATRE CRITICS CIRCLE, CONNECTICUT CRITICS CIRCLE, DALLAS-FORT WORTH THEATER CRITICS FORUM, DRAMA DESK, HELEN HAYES, HENRY HEWES DESIGN, LUCILLE LORTEL AND OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE. CURRENT ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT: PROFESSOR AND CO-CHAIR, DESIGN DEPARTMENT, YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA NEW YORK: AMERICAN PLACE THEATER; BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC; CRITERION CENTER (BROADWAY); DELACORTE THEATER; CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY;
    [Show full text]
  • VG Interview: Cherrie Moraga
    VG Interview: Cherrie Moraga Maria-Antónia Oliver-Rotger (M-A O-R): What have been your major dramatic influences? Cherrie Moraga (CM): My major influence has been the bilingual- ism and working-class theater of the Chicano Teatro movements, especially El Teatro Campesino. Also the poetic sensuality of Fed- erico García Lorca. The teachings of María Irene Fornes allowed me to enter playwriting as a poet, to find the story through image and character, i.e. an organic place of the heart, rather than through the progressive plot-line (action-driven) structure. I have been inspired by the technique of other playwrights: the language and structural inventiveness of African-American Suzan Lori Parks, the courage of the female characterization of the Puerto Rican playwright Migdalia Cruz. The storytelling en voz alta de mis tías y mi mamá around the kitchen table introduced me (especially my mother) to the dramatic art of story-telling. M-A O-R: What caused you to start writing drama after having written poetry and prose? CM: After publishing Loving in the War Years (1983) which was very autobiographical, my own story had finally been told on the page. This allowed space within me for character (some one other than myself to enter) my unconscious. The character started speaking out loud. This was Corky from Giving Up the Ghost. It was oral. Thus, the beginnings of dramatic writing. Interview by: Maria-Antónia Oliver-Rotger Date: January 2000 1 © 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of the Modern Medea Figure on the American Stage
    San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Master's Theses Master's Theses and Graduate Research Summer 2013 Three Faces of Destiny: An Analysis of the Modern Medea Figure on the American Stage Melinda M. Marks San Jose State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses Recommended Citation Marks, Melinda M., "Three Faces of Destiny: An Analysis of the Modern Medea Figure on the American Stage" (2013). Master's Theses. 4352. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.d5au-kyx2 https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/4352 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses and Graduate Research at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THREE FACES OF DESTINY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE MODERN MEDEA FIGURE ON THE AMERICAN STAGE A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Television, Radio, Film and Theatre San José State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Melinda Marks August 2013 i © 2013 Melinda Marks ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii The Designated Thesis Committee Approves the Thesis Titled THREE FACES OF DESTINY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE MODERN MEDEA FIGURE ON THE AMERICAN STAGE by Melinda Marks APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF TELEVISION, RADIO, FILM AND THEATRE SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY August 2013 Dr. Matthew Spangler Department of Communication Studies Dr. David Kahn Department of Television, Radio, Film and Theatre Dr. Alison McKee Department of Television, Radio, Film and Theatre iii ABSTRACT THREE FACES OF DESTINY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE MODERN MEDEA FIGURE ON THE AMERICAN STAGE By Melinda Marks This thesis examines the ways in which three structural factors contained within three modern American adaptations of Euripides’ Medea serve to enhance the dominant personality traits of the main character.
    [Show full text]
  • Acting in the Academy
    Acting in the Academy There are over 150 BFA and MFA acting programs in the US today, nearly all of which claim to prepare students for theatre careers. Peter Zazzali contends that these curricula represent an ethos that is outdated and limited given today’s shrinking job market for stage actors. Acting in the Academy traces the history of actor training in universities to make the case for a move beyond standard courses in voice and speech, move- ment, or performance, to develop an entrepreneurial model that motivates and encourages students to create their own employment opportunities. This book answers questions such as: • How has the League of Professional Theatre Training Programs shaped actor training in the US? • How have training programs and the acting profession developed in relation to one another? • What impact have these developments had on American acting as an art form? Acting in the Academy calls for a reconceptualization of actor training in the US, and looks to newly empower students of performance with a fresh, original perspective on their professional development. Peter Zazzali is Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Kansas. John Houseman and members of Group I at Juilliard in the spring of 1972 reading positive reviews of the Acting Company’s inaugural season. Kevin Kline is seated behind Houseman. Photo by Raimondo Borea; Courtesy of the Juilliard School Archives. Acting in the Academy The history of professional actor training in US higher education Peter Zazzali First published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 Peter Zazzali The right of Peter Zazzali to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    [Show full text]
  • Greek Drama Resources
    Greek Drama Resources A Bibliography & Filmography Compiled by Dennis Lee Delaney Head, Professional Director Training Program Ohio University Theater Division, School of Dance, Film, and Theater © 2016 Websites / Internet Resources Ancient Greek Theater Resources Actors of Dionysus (www.actorsofdionysus.com) AOD has earned a reputation for making Greek tragedy seriously sexy (The Guardian) and since 1993 have built up an extensive track record of gripping and wholly accessible productions. Their website chronicles their production history, education publications/workshops, and also has a shop which features scripts, CDs and DVDs. Ancient Greek Drama (www.cbel.com/ancient_greek_drama) This is a useful compendium of 125 manually selected sites on various topics related to Greek drama, including individual articles on the playwrights and their works. Ancient Greek Theater (www.academic.reed.edu/humanities/ 110Tech.html) A page designed to provide an introduction to Ancient Greek Theater and provide tools for further research. Contains timelines, staging issues, bibliography and links. The Ancient Theatre Archive (www.whitman.edu/theatre/ theatretour/home.htm) A virtual reality tour of Greek and Roman Theatre architecture throughout the world, including mainland Europe, North Africa and the United Kingdom. The Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama / University of Oxford (www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk) A comprehensive production history of ancient Greek and Roman drama in modern performance. It contains a database of information on more than
    [Show full text]
  • Barreca Resume 2011
    CHRISTOPHER H. BARRECA SCENIC DESIGNER HEAD OF SCENIC DESIGN - CALARTS The * symbol indicates a world or American premiere The ** symbol indicates musical DATE TITLE DIRECTOR THEATER Current RACE Irene Lewis ACT San Fransicso SUMMER PEOPLE Barreca/Korogodsky/Koller Theater Pokolenliy, St. Petersburg, Russia 2011 COMPLETENESS* Pam MacKinnon South Coast Repertory 2010 SIGMARINGEN* (New Opera) Janie Geiser Workshop for Musikprotokoll Graz, Austria JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH * ** (Workshop) Graciela Daniele The Norma Terris Theatre, Chester, CT THE WIZ** Irene Lewis Baltimore Center Stage HEDDA GABLER Barreca/Rubin site specific work in a NYC brownstone ELEKTRA Carey Perloff Getty Villa, LA IN A GARDEN* David Warren South Coast Repertory PITERSBURG* Barreca/Korogodsky/Kolun/ Theater Pokoleniy Simpson/Geiser 2009 CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Sharon Ott Berkeley Rep. PITERSBURG* Barreca/Korogodsky/Kolun/ Theater Pokoleniy Simpson/Geiser RED HAND GUITAR* ** (Workshop) Evan Yionoulis Arena Stage, Wash, D.D. AH* Travis Preston REDCAT (CNP) IN THE DAYLIGHT* John Rubin Vital PHILIP ROTH IN KHARTOUM* John Rubin NY Public Theater/Labyrinth Theater 2008 PENALTIES AND INTEREST* John Rubin NY Public Theater/Labyrinth Theater THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Salzburg Marionettes)** Richard Hamburger Salzburg, Austria WHAT THEY HAVE* Chris Fields South Coast Repertory 2007 THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Salzburg Marionettes) Richard Hamburger Metropolitan Museum of Art International tour THE STUDIO* Christopher DʼAmboise South Coast Repertory Signature Theater Wash, DC CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF Richard Hamburger Dallas Theater Center HIPPOLYTOS Stephen Sachs Getty Villa, LA THE MURDER OF ISAAC* Irene Lewis Center Stage 2006 HOUSE OF BERNALDA ALBA** * Graciela Daniele Lincoln Center Theater CARNIVAL** Erica Schmidt Papermill Playhouse BELL SOLARIS* Travis Preston REDCAT (CNP) MACBETH (A Modern Ecstasy) Travis Preston Almeida Theater London, England Adelaide Festival Australia REDCAT (CNP), Los Angeles MACBETH Eve Shapiro The Acting Co.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Justice and Classical Antiquity in the United States Units: 4 Fall 2019—TR—12:30-1:50Pm
    GESM 120g/121g: Social Justice and Classical Antiquity in the United States Units: 4 Fall 2019—TR—12:30-1:50pm Location: LV L 3 V Instructor: Prof. Brandon Bourgeois (Assistant Professor, Department of Classics) Office: PED 132F Office Hours: TR 2-3pm Contact Info: [email protected] I will typically reply to emails within 24 hours. Ewol Erizku, Their Eyes Were Watching God, 2017 (Exhibit: “Make America Great Again,” 20 April-2 July 2017, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London) Painted plaster and silkscreen on photographic light reflector Revised Fri., August 16, 2019 (tentative syllabus) Course Description It is nothing new to say that conceptions of the ‘classical’ have been deeply complicit in the creation and perpetuation of modern structures of violence and oppression (‘-isms’ such as colonialism, nationalism, racism, sexism, etc.). So what does classics (traditionally, the study and promotion of ‘Graeco-Roman’ and—at times—Egyptian antiquity) have to do with intersectionality, the understanding that we simultaneously occupy multiple, overlapping, and complexly-interacting social positions? What relation does Plato, ancient Greek drama, and early-Christian asceticism have with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Huey Newton, Womanism, LGBTQ rights, the Chicanx movement, and Black Lives Matter? This course introduces students to a critical social-justice approach to modern classical reception. By using a variety of media and disciplinary approaches, we will study the little-publicized history of how classical antiquity has been received among structurally oppressed and marginalized peoples in the United States, from the country’s founding to the present day. Along this timeline, we will see how the classics has perennially served as a site of political contestation: how normative conceptions of the ‘classical’ have been used to underwrite exclusion and oppression; and how a variety of progressive and radical U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Hendricksonc 2017 Final.Pdf (701.1Kb)
    Chloe Hendrickson Carroll College Honors Thesis May 15, 2017 The “Mad” Woman in Medea and Decolonial Feminist Revisions: An Intersectional Feminist Analysis of Three Plays Abstract: This thesis focuses on Medea, the classical Greek play by Euripides that was first produced in 431 B.C., and its feminist, queer, and decolonial revisions in contemporary global contexts. These revisions include The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea by Chicana queer feminist author Cherríe Moraga and Black Medea by Indigenous Australian playwright Wesley Enoch. Common to these primary texts are themes of Medea’s madness and anger, which are tied to the fraught questions of home, nation, and the Other. Each section of this thesis focuses on a different play, analyzing the intersectional feminist politics of Medea’s madness across varying sociopolitical and historical contexts. While all the individual sections of this thesis develop a nuanced argument specific to the sociopolitical context of the play, the guiding theme throughout the thesis is that readers must interpret Medea’s madness through an intersectional feminist lens. Each section situates the play within its specific historical and geographical context and interprets Medea’s madness within that context. Ultimately, this thesis argues that the function of Medea’s madness is determined by her marginal, exiled locations as a woman and an ethnic Other within the domestic space and the nation-space. Reading the source text and the revisions through an intersectional feminist framework allows the reader to see how Medea must navigate “home” as a gendered, racialized, and/or nationalist space, as well as a discursive construct.
    [Show full text]
  • Desire and Homosexuality in the '90S Latino Theatre Maria Teresa
    SPRING 1999 87 Out of the Fringe: Desire and Homosexuality in the '90s Latino Theatre Maria Teresa Marrero The title of this essay refers to a collection of theatre and performance pieces written and performed between 1995 and 1998 by some of the most prolific Latino artists working in the late 20th century.l One the characteristics that marks them is the lack of overall homogeneity found among the pieces. Some, like Svich's Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man's Blues (1997) and Fur (1995) by Migdalia Cruz, function within an internal terrain that the play itself constructs, making no allusions to identifiable, specific, geographic locations (be they Hispanic or Anglo). Theirs is a self-contained world set within what could be termed the deliberations of language, the psychological and the theatrical. Others, like Alfaro's Cuerpo politizado, (1997), Greetings from a Queer Señorita (1995) by Monica Palacios, Trash (1995) by Pedro Monge-Rafuls, Stuff! (1997) by Nao Bustamante and Coco Fusco, and Mexican Medea (1997) by Cherríe Moraga, clearly take a stance at the junction between the sexual, sexual preference, AIDS, postcolonial discourse and identity politics. While the collection of plays and performances also includes fine work by Oliver Mayer, Nilo Cruz and Naomi Iizuka, for the purpose of this essay I shall concentrate on the above mentioned pieces. The heterogeneous and transitory space of these texts is marked by a number of characteristics, the most prominent and innovative of which is the foregrounding of sexual identities that defy both Latino and Anglo cultural stereotypes. By contemplating the central role of the physical body and its multiplicity of desires/states, I posit this conjunction as the temporary space for the performance of theatrical, cultural, and gender expressions.
    [Show full text]
  • Curriculum Vitae
    CHERRIE L MORAGA Writer/Educator/Playwright and Director Professor, Department of English Stuart Bernstein, http://cherriemoraga.com Co-director, Las Maestras Center Representation for Artists for Chicana Indigenous Thought & Art Practice 63 Carmine Street, 3D University of California, Santa Bárbara 93106 New York, New York 10014 https://www.english.ucsb.edu/moraga -cherríe [email protected] PUBLISHED BOOKS Creative Non-fiction and Drama Native Country of the Heart. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 250 pp. Spring 2019. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, 4th Edition. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2015. Co- edited with Gloria Anzaldúa A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness: Writings 2000-2010. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011. Poetry and Essays. Watsonville: Some Place Not Here & Circle in the Dirt: El Pueblo de East Palo Alto. Albuquerque, NM: West End Press, 2002. Drama. The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea & The Heart of the Earth: A Popol Vuh Story. Albuquerque, NM: West End Press, 2001. Drama. Waiting in the Wings: Portrait of a Queer Motherhood. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Press, 1997. Memoir. Heroes & Saints and Other Plays. Albuquerque, NM: West End Press, 1994. Drama. The Last Generation. Boston: South End Press, 1993. Poetry, Fiction and Essays. Loving in the War Years -- Lo Que Nunca Pasó Por Sus Labios. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1983, 2000. Poetry and Essays. Cuentos: Stories by Latinas. New York: Kitchen Table, Women of Color Press, 1983. Co-edited with Alma Gómez and Mariana Romo-Carmona. The Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. Watertown, MA: Persephone Press, 1981; New York: Kitchen Table Press, 1983; Berkeley: Third Woman Press, 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bacchae by EURIPIDES Translation by AARON POOCHIGIAN Created and Performed by SITI COMPANY Theater Latté Da’S Re-Imagined Staging of the Beloved Opera Returns
    McGuire Proscenium Stage / Feb 29 – April 5, 2020 The Guthrie Theater presents a SITI Company production of The Bacchae by EURIPIDES translation by AARON POOCHIGIAN created and performed by SITI COMPANY Theater Latté Da’s re-imagined staging of the beloved opera returns. Painting: Bonjour Tristesse, Nicholas Harper LA BOHÈME MUSIC BY GIACOMO PUCCINI LIBRETTO BY LUIGI ILLICA AND GUISEPPE GIACOSA NEW ORCHESTRATION BY JOSEPH SCHLEFKE DIRECTED BY PETER ROTHSTEIN MUSIC DIRECTION BY ERIC MCENANEY MAR 11 - APR 26, 2020 • RITZ THEATER • TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Inside IN PICTURES An Iraqi Feast • 4 WELCOME From Artistic Director Joseph Haj • 5 GUTHRIE SPOTLIGHT A Timeline of Greek Tragedy • 8 GUTHRIE SPOTLIGHT Greeks at the Guthrie • 8 THE BACCHAE Cast and Creative Team • 11 Biographies • 12 PLAY FEATURES About SITI Company • 17 A Q&A With Director Anne Bogart • 18 The Dangerous Liberation of Theater • 20 PLAY FEATURE Backstory • 22 From the Director • 18 SUPPORTERS Annual Fund Contributors • 24 Corporate, Foundation and Public Support • 27 PLAY FEATURE Why Euripides Wrote The WHO WE ARE Bacchae • 20 Board of Directors and Guthrie Staff •28 GOOD TO KNOW Theater Information and Policies • 30 Guthrie Theater Program Volume 57, Issue 6 • Copyright 2020 818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415 ADMINISTRATION 612.225.6000 EDITOR Johanna Buch BOX OFFICE 612.377.2224 or 1.877.44.STAGE (toll-free) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Brian Bressler guthrietheater.org • Joseph Haj, artistic director CONTRIBUTORS Anne Bogart, Helene Foley, Joseph Haj. Special thanks to SITI Company. The Guthrie creates transformative theater experiences that ignite the The Guthrie program is published by the Guthrie Theater.
    [Show full text]