This year’s series includes performances by Four Larks and Troubadour Theater Company.
March 14–16, Melbourne-based performance troupe Four Larks will perform Orpheus, a bold new adaptation that weaves electrifying visual and physical theater with a hypnotizing live score.
Orpheus follows the golden-voiced hero on his journey through the underworld to rescue his lost love, Eurydice. He sings his way across the River Styx, past the three-headed hellhound, and into the House of the Dead. As he descends into the heart of Hades, Orpheus dares to defy the fates, convincing Persephone to return Eurydice. But will he be forced to accept her mortality once they reach the light of day?
Four Larks creates a “thrilling theatrical bricolage,” leaping from Ovid to Virgil with a melody from Monteverdi and a riff from Rilke, to resurrect the myth of Orpheus. The performance troupe’s wildly inventive orchestration fuses ancient traditions and modern avant-pop with an acoustic soundscape created by folk and classical instruments, found objects, and otherwordly vocals. This exuberant ensemble of actor-musicians brings together some of Melbourne’s and Los Angeles’s most exciting new voices.
“Our work is built on a shared love of found and recycled objects and adapted texts,” says Jesse Rasmussen, co-creator and lyricist of Four Larks. “We create a unique theatrical/musical conversation by facilitating the collaboration between actors and musicians from the alternative/avant-pop/indie music scenes. We offer a unique contemporary perspective on known narratives with an original musical score as the backbone of the performance.”
After its presentation at the Getty Villa, Four Larks will performance Orpheus at a secret pop-up venue in downtown Los Angeles on March 25. For more information please visit fourlarks.com.
April 18–20, Troubadour Theater Company returns to the Getty Villa after its successful productions of Oedipus The King Mama and For the Birds to present ABBAMEMNON, the sordid story of seduction and scheming, with the sweet Swedish sounds of the Seventies.
Featuring the music of the seminal Swedish band ABBA, this 90-minute romp employs the theatrical conventions and devices of the Greeks, the commedia dell’arte, and Brecht. Physical and musical, along with a strong emotional core, the Troubies are bringing the noise, the funk, and the dysfunctional family vibe to life in what is considered by many to be the masterwork of all Greek tragedies.
ABBAMEMNON ain’t your Mama(Mia’s) re-telling of the Grecian tragic masterwork by Aeschylus (author of the Orestia, a three play trilogy of which Agamemnon is the first installment). Bloody and bold, fierce and funny, this production by the Troubies, the masters of mayhem, is sure to entertain, educate, and enlighten.
Note to editors: Because these performances are works-in-progress, they are not open for reviews.
Please be advised that these performances are suitable for teen and adult audiences.
Performance Schedule
Orpheus
Friday–Sunday, March 14–16, 2014
8pm on Friday, 3pm and 8pm on Saturday, 3pm on Sunday
Getty Villa, Auditorium
Tickets $7
There will be a Q&A session following the 3pm performance on Saturday, March 15.
Troubadour Theater Company presents ABBAMEMNON
Friday–Sunday, April 18–20, 2014
8pm on Friday, 3pm and 8pm on Saturday, 3pm on Sunday
Getty Villa, Auditorium
Tickets $7
There will be a Q&A session following the 3pm performance on Saturday, April 19.