Directed and adapted by Troubadour Theater Company’s artistic director Matt Walker, the new production is based on Plautus’s Mostellaria.
“The spookiest thing about Plautus’ Haunted House is how its themes and humor still resonate with today’s audiences. 2,200 years later we’re laughing at the same absurdities, and being moved by the same sentiments,” says Matt Walker. “Learning that the ancient comedies featured music, topicality and improvisation, and were performed by itinerant acting troupes who toured provincially was both enlightening and empowering for a company that calls itself Troubadour.”
In Plautus’s Mostellaria (The Haunted House), a young man named Philolaches leads an extravagant life, indulging himself in wine and parties with his friend, Callidamates, while his father Theopropides is away on business. Philolaches has also borrowed a large sum of money to buy the freedom of a slave girl he loves. When Theopropides returns home sooner than expected, his slave Tranio is forced into some high-concept scheming to save the day. Theopropides eventually learns the truth, but all ends happily when Calidamates offers to repay the debt with his friends, thus allowing both Philolaches and Tranio to be forgiven.
In this hilarious adaptation of Plautus’s 2nd-century BCE Roman comedy, the Troubies’ signature blend of theatricality and mayhem evokes the spirit and improvisation of Roman traveling comedy troupes. Similar to a television sitcom today, this knockabout farce is fraught with peril and laughs aplenty and will feature the musical, comedic, and circus style that is expected of the one and only Troubies.
The Getty Villa’s annual outdoor theater production is part of an innovative year-round theater program that enhances the visitor’s experience of the ancient world. Live performances of classical drama offer insight into the social, cultural, and political realities of life in Ancient Greece and Rome. In the galleries, the works of art serve to deepen the connection between modern audiences and the mythical stories underlying the tragedies and comedies on stage.
“Theater was a fundamental part of religious and social life in the ancient world, and as the Villa’s theater program shows, Classical drama still resonates powerfully with contemporary playwrights, actors, and audiences,” says Jeffrey Spier, senior curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa. “After several years of tragedy and drama, we are excited to get back to comedy and bring laughs again to the Villa’s outdoor classical theater. The Trouboudor Theater Company’s comedic genius and traveling troupe style make them the perfect fit for Plautus’s Roman comedy.”
Performances of Haunted House Party, A Roman Comedy will be held Thursdays through Saturdays, September 8 through October 1, 2016, at 8:00pm, with previews from September 1 through 3. Tickets for Thursday night performances are $40 ($36 for students and seniors), Friday night performances are $42, and Saturday night performances are $45. Student and senior discounts available for Thursday night performances only. Ticket prices for the previews are $25.
Over the past seven years, the Troubies have presented three theater lab comedies at the Getty Villa: Oedipus: The King, Mama! in 2009, a musical parody that mashes up the Greek tragedy with the music of Elvis Presley; For the Birds in 2011, based on Aristophanes’s feathery utopian comedy; and Abbamemnon in 2014, a physical and musical romp, set to the music of the Swedish band ABBA, on one of the most famous dysfunctional ancient Greek families.
About The Troubadour Theater Company
Troubadour Theater Company is a freewheeling, no holds barred, Commedia Del Arte flavored, slapstick driven Los Angeles based ensemble of actors, musicians, and comedians that has been performing for audiences throughout Southern California and beyond since 1995. Their fast-paced, laugh-filled, loose adaptations (some lines are still there) of classic plays, literature and film, as well as their original productions and hilarious sketch material, make this company a unique and exciting experience for theater-goers of any age. For more information on the Troubies, visit the Troubadour Theater.