The Villa Theater Lab series continues the last weekend in January with Cowboy Elektra by award-winning playwright Meghan Brown with Rogue Artists Ensemble and directed by Sean Cawelti. On February 2, the Villa hosts a staged reading of Tony nominee Sarah Ruhl’s play, Eurydice.
In Cowboy Elektra, audiences encounter a dusty crossroads where California history and Greek tragedy collide. Set in a saloon in 1869, Elektra’s investigation of her father’s death leads to a tragic revenge plot against her mother. The work-in-progress performance is a modern feminist tale that explores cycles of violence and control, and features vintage puppetry, multimedia visuals, and original saloon songs by Z. Lupetin of the Dustbowl Revival, a mostly female ensemble.
From Play to Libretto: Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice will feature actors and opera singers in a staged reading of Eurydice (2003) by Tony nominee and MacArthur Fellow Sarah Ruhl. The reading is part of LA Opera’s Eurydice Found (January 11—March 15), an LA festival dedicated to new perspectives on the enduring Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. An interactive conversation will follow the reading with the acclaimed playwright and the score’s composer, Matthew Aucoin, about the process of translating the play to opera. Selections from the opera (premiering February 1, 2020) will be performed by artists from LA Opera’s Young Artists.
Performances for Cowboy Elektra take place in the Villa Auditorium on Friday, January 24, 2020, at 7:30pm, Saturday, January 25 at 3:00 and 7:30pm, and Sunday, January 26 at 3:00pm. Tickets are $7.
The play-reading of From Play to Libretto: Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice takes place in the Villa Auditorium February 2, 2020, at 1:00pm Tickets are free and available starting January 3.
About Rogue Artists Ensemble
For more than 15 years, Los Angeles-based Rogue Artists Ensemble has been creating “Hyper-theater,” a mashup of new and old traditions that includes puppetry, mask work, dance, and music, combined with technology-driven storytelling such as projected media. As one of the West Coast’s only companies to consistently integrate puppetry, Rogue Artists Ensemble is passionate about sharing this incredible art form through touring initiatives and educational community-based programs, many of which are provided for free. Rogue differs from other companies not only in its dedication to creating original work, but also because the ensemble is composed primarily of designers and multidisciplinary artists, not solely actors. Rogue Artists Ensemble is a professional arts organization with a deep commitment to community engagement and providing accessibility to art, regardless of income level.
About Eurydice Found
Inspired by LA Opera’s world premiere of Eurydice (February 1–23, 2020) by composer Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl, artists, scholars, and community members across Los Angeles will come together in the first three months of 2020 for a festival dedicated to new perspectives on the Ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Since the new opera unfolds from the heroine’s point of view, the festival celebrates female artists and the female viewpoint. Eurydice Found will upend the ancient myth through a wide range of performances, conversations and happenings.