Euripides's Lost Play Protesilaos to Be Focus of Play-Reading at the Getty Villa

Inspired by the handful of surviving lines from Euripides’s lost play Protesilaos, The Laodamiad explores love, war, and loss with a staged reading and music at the Getty Villa

May 16, 2017

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Inspired by the handful of surviving lines from Euripides’s lost play Protesilaos, The Laodamiad explores love, war, and loss with a staged reading and music at the Getty Villa on June 3 and 4, 2017.

Written by New York-based playwright Chas LiBretto, directed by Hunter Bird, with music by Kim Sherman, The Laodamiad is part of the Getty Villa’s play-reading series, which presents on occasion script-in-hand renditions of lesser-known ancient plays.

News of the Trojan War reaches Laodamia’s ears on the day of her wedding to Iolaus, a shepherd from Phylace. As the nation mobilizes for war, she desperately tries to keep her new husband safe at home with her, but inadvertently exposes him to a wider world of politics and power. A nightmarish prophecy ensures that the charismatic General Odysseus assigns Iolaus to the front and when he is killed in combat, Laodamia becomes the war’s first widow. How she deals with her grief has echoed for millennia through history and myth.

Mary Louise Hart, Associate Curator of Antiquities at the Getty Villa, will present a brief historical introduction of the play prior to each performance. All performances take place in the Auditorium at the Getty Villa. A free ticket is required and can be reserved by calling 310-440-7300. Parking is $15; $10 after 3pm.

About Chas LiBretto

Chas LiBretto is a playwright and performer from NYC. He is the co-founder of Psittacus Productions, a theatre company dedicated to exploring modern interpretations of classical material. His plays and musicals include The Laodamiad (dramaturgy and mentorship by Oskar Eustis), The Royal Pyrate: A Musical (developed at Ars Nova Uncharted), Song of Rage, Wolfram & Kyot, Grim-All-Day, A Cure in the House, The True History of Lucian of Samosata and His Experiences During the Moon Wars of the Second Century (Vineyard Theatre), Helen and Her Double: A Musical and the Pulitzer jury nominee Cyclops: A Rock Opera (NYMF, Ars Nova).

His work has been developed by Ars Nova, Roundabout Theatre, Lincoln Center Education, Theater Masters, Vineyard Theatre, NYMF, Pasadena Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare, Signature Theatre, and the Paideia Institute. He is an alum of Ars Nova Uncharted, Theater Masters, and is a Center for Hellenic Studies Fellow and a Brightheart Fellow at the Paideia Institute for Humanistic Study. He holds a BA in Drama from Washington College and an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University, where his thesis play was mentored by Oskar Eustis. He is represented by Katie Gamelli at Abrams Artists Agency and is currently collaborating on new musicals with Zoe Sarnak and Scotty Arnold.

Learn more about Chas Libretto.

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