Going Greek - Rotation 2

Once upon a time in rotation 2, I directed The Bacchae, my first Greek tragedy. A big question I had going in was – does humor exist in Greek tragedy and if so, how does it express itself? As such, we focused on the irony at work in characters like Dionysus and integrated elements of commedia into Cadmus and Tiresius. Our process provided an opportunity for me to explore a more choreographic approach to movement, one of my goals for the summer. In exploring the physicality of our chorus, we did a lot of gesture work and element work and created elaborate movement sequences to reinforce the odes.

The Bacchae was an excellent opportunity for me to work on my skills as an adapter. We focused on the conflict between Penthius and Dionysus and the questions of gender at play in their relationship. In exploring these questions, we started with the idea of liminal space - where edges blur and bright line distinctions grow hazy. We used the imagery of night, shadow, and moonlight. Managed to fit a shadow puppet play and a moon box into the show – too much fun!

Something else I learned a great deal about in rotation 2 was how to use an assistant. This summer is my first time with the luxury of having a full time AD. Sarah Coury, our assistant for Bacchae proved invaluable, enabling me to increase my efficiency exponentially by taking notes and running a second rehearsal room when needed.

I was blessed with a tremendous cast of eager collaborators, as well as a visionary design team and a terrific crew and stage manager. They made rehearsals an absolute joy. I am so proud of the work we did together.