Vet director Anne Bogart and her innovative SITI Company launch their 2009-2010 season with the world premiere of Jocelyn Clarke's starkly contemporary rewriting of Sophocles' masterpiece, Antigone tonight, October 28. Performances will run through November 1.
The latest addition to SITI Company's repertoire, Antigone is a provoking tale of family and loyalty, patriotism and war, and the powers of the state. "This powerful theatrical and emotionally charged experience is shockingly relevant to our present cultural and historic moment," says Artistic Director Anne Bogart. Adapted by Dublin-based Jocelyn Clarke - SITI's long-time collaborator - the play tells the story of Antigone, the cursed daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, who defies the King of Thebes for the right to bury her own brother. One of humankind's most enduring and influential stories, it explores conflicts between individual and state and the choices one has to make to either follow one's own beliefs or obey the law. Antigone was first presented as a work-in-progress at The J. Paul Getty Museum's Getty Villa (CA) in May 2009, as part of their Theater Lab series.
Directed by Anne Bogart, Antigone features original music by Christian Fredrickson, and lighting and scenic design by Brian H Scott, and costume design by Melissa Trn. The cast includes Akiko Aizawa (Ismene), Will Bond (Chorus), Barney O'Hanlon (Guard), Leon Ingulsrud (Haemon), Tom Nelis (Tireseus), Makela Spielman (Antigone), Stephen Webber (Creon).
Also featured in the 2009 - 2010 SITI season are a fall discussion series starting in November, wherein Anne Bogart and members of SITI will give five monthly public presentations, SITI Company Mondays @ DTW, focusing on the creative process, methods and repertoire of this groundbreaking ensemble, which, for the last 17 years, has been altering the DNA of the theatrical art form. In addition, from April 27-May 16 the company will present the revival of Charles L. Mee's prismatic journey inspired by the life and work of Robert Rauschenberg, bobrauschenbergamerica. Directed by Anne Bogart, bobrauschenbergamerica features set and costume design by James Schuette, light design by Brian H Scott, and sound Design by Darron L West. The cast includes Akiko Aizawa (Phil's girl), J. Ed Araiza (Becker), Will Bond (Allen), Gian Murray Gianino (Pizza boy), Leon Ingulsrud (Phil), Ellen Lauren (Susan), Kelly Maurer (Bob's mom), Barney O'Hanlon (Carl) plus additional casting to be announced soon. All events will take place at Dance Theater Workshop (219 West 19th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues).
Antigone runs at the Dance Theater Workshop from Oct 28 - Nov 1 at 7:30pm, Oct 31 & Nov 1 at 3pm. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students.
SITI Company Mondays @ DTW runs at the Dance theater Workshop on Nov 23, Dec 14, Jan 25, Feb 15, Mar 8 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10 each evening and $40 for all 5.
bobrauschenbergamerica runs at the Dance Theater Workshop from Apr 22-May 16. Tickets go on sale March 1, 2010.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit on SITI, visit: www.siti.org
Considered by many to be one of America's national treasures, the ensemble theater company SITI has garnered praise for its thought-provoking and visually compelling work, emphasizing the cross-cultural exchange of dance, music and art, and international collaborations.
Anne Bogart is the Artistic Director of SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is a Professor at Columbia University where she runs the Graduate Directing Program. Works with SITI include Antigone; Under Construction; Freshwater; Who Do You Think You Are; Radio Macbeth; Hotel Cassiopeia; Death and the Ploughman; La Dispute; Score; bobrauschenbergamerica; Room; War of the Worlds; Cabin Pressure; The Radio Play; Alice's Adventures; Culture of Desire; Bob; Going, Going, Gone; Small Lives/Big Dreams; The Medium; Noel Coward's Hay Fever and Private Lives; August Strindberg's Miss Julie; and Charles Mee's Orestes. She is the author of three books: A Director Prepares, The Viewpoints Book and And Then, You Act.
Jocelyn Clarke (Playwright, Antigone) is a Dublin-based dramaturg and playwright, who served as the lead theatre critic with The Sunday Tribune for nine years. He has written four adaptations for SITI Company-Bob, adapted from interviews with director Robert Wilson; Alice's Adventures from Lewis Carroll's classic; Room from the writings of Virginia Woolf; and Score, from the writings of Leonard Bernstein. Other credits include adaptations of Neil Gaiman's The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish (The Ark); William Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice and The Tempest (Corcadorca Theater), The Little Deer The Crimson Fly, and The Swan Children (Abbey Theatre); as well as his docu-drama The Case Of The Rose Tattoo (2007 Dublin Theatre Festival). In New York City, his adaptation of Dr. C. (Or How I Learned To Act in Eight Steps) for the Theatre Mitu premiered in June 2009, and his adaptation of Finn for Mabou Mines will open at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in March 2010.
Christian Frederickson (Composer, Antigone) is a violist, composer, and sound designer living in Brooklyn, NY. Recent credits include: 2009 National Playwrights Conference (The O'Neill Theater Center); Antigone with the SITI Company (The Getty Villa); An Oresteia, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet (Classic Stage Co.); The Fever Chart (The Public Theater); Arkansas Shakespeare Theater '08, '09; The Tempest (Actors Theatre of Louisville). He is a founding member of Rachel's, an instrumental band with six albums released since 1995 on Chicago's Touch and Go Records. Rachel's toured extensively, playing clubs, churches, theaters and universities throughout North America, Europe, and South Korea. The band's performances have been featured on NPR's "Weekend Edition", the BBC, BET TV, WNYC, and the national radio networks in Italy, Belgium, and South Korea. Rachel's collaborated with the electronic duo Matmos (1999's Full on Night), and with the SITI Company (2004's systems/layers). Their music has been featured in the film soundtracks of Peter Berg's Hancock, Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, Miguel Arteta's Star Maps, and the Belgian production Une Liaison Por. From 2000 to 2004 he was the viola instructor at the University of Louisville, where he performed as a member of the Louisville String Quartet, and coached chamber music ensembles. He also taught viola at Indiana University.
SITI Company was founded in 1992 by Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki to redefine and revitalize contemporary theater in the United States through an emphasis on international cultural exchange and collaboration. Originally envisioned as a summer institute in Saratoga Springs, New York, SITI has expanded to encompass a year-round program based in New York City with a summer season in Saratoga. SITI Company's three ongoing components are the creation of new work, the training of young theater artists, and a commitment to international collaboration. A seven-time Obie winner, the company is known nationally and internationally as a top-level artistic collective that generates groundbreaking theater while training artists from around the world.
