 |
 |
|
HOME > Upcoming Performances > Elektra |
|||||
|
Upcoming Performances
|
 |
||||
| Elektra |  |
||||
|
|
|||||
| by Sophocles translation by Timberlake Wertenbaker directed by Juliana Kleist-Mendez |
Preview: Dec. 2 @ 7:30pm Show dates: Dec. 4, 5, 6, 7 @ 7:30pm, Dec. 7 @ 2pm Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre |
||||
| About the Play Come one, Come all! Step right up to see Elektra by Sophocles in a new, musical translation by Timberlake Wertenbaker. Elektra finds herself in an endless circus orchestrated by her father’s murderers: her mother, The Queen, and her mother’s lover who masquerades as The New King. Elektra cannot take part in the charade of happiness and rages against the court, waiting for her exiled brother, Orestes to return and avenge their father. Through music, movement, and the female voice, Elektra takes us inside the toxic cycles of violence that plagued the Ancient Greeks and continue as national spectacle today. |
About the Playwright coming soon |
||||
| About the Director Juliana Kleist-Méndez is a second-year MFA Directing student previously based in Brooklyn, NY. She is an Iowa-born Cuban American committed to embodied storytelling collaborations. Selected credits: Far From Canterbury (Winner of Best Musical: New York International Fringe Festival; Encores! at The SoHo Playhouse); La hija del pirata/The Pirate’s Daughter (La Pirata Productions); Club Silenciowith the Cuban Cultural Center of New York (Manhattan Theater Company); Elvira: The Immigration Play with Si Se Puede Productions (Lehman College, Collaboraction Theatre Company, Chicago); King Lear: A Radio Play (The Framework Theatre, Chicago). BA in Theater for Social Change from Cornell University. UC San Diego credits: Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! for WNPF 2019. |
|||||
| Director's Statement Welcome to The Circus! A place of magic, of possibility, of reinvention. A place deeply rooted in the American national imagination. Yet, as we muse on the Golden Age of Circus, it is important to remind ourselves that all were not empowered during this time: women could not vote, there were very few labor laws, and circus empresarios like the Ringling Brothers and P.T. Barnum amassed ridiculous fortunes on the backs of their employees. The world of Elektra is a circus put on for us. The events you are about to witness happen after Elektra’s mother, Clytemnestra, has brutally murdered her father, King Agamemnon, without permission from the Gods after his triumphant return from Troy. Elektra, fearing for her brother’s safety, has sent Orestes away to a foreign kingdom and awaits his return under the tyrannical rule of her mother’s new husband, Aegisthus. In accordance with the rule of the Gods, if their father is to be avenged, it must be Orestes to deliver justice. Under Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, this circus kingdom continues to celebrate the murder of Agamemnon. It is part of the new spectacle and central to their performance of power. There is something about a spectacle designed to distract from other ills that feels oddly familiar right now. During a spectacle, truth is not relevant, needed, or sought out. All that matters is public opinion, which, as we know, can be easily swayed. Many would like to argue that Elektra is a play about grief, loss, and who has the right to feel those emotions. To honor this interpretation, I chose this adaptation where characters speak and sing in Greek when their emotions get larger than English poetry can hold. But for me, this is a play about protest. A play about who has the right to take action. A play about what happens when, instead of creating new world orders, we blindly use existing structures to attempt to catalyze social change. A special thank you to Adriana Méndez, David Kleist, Janet Shepherd, Robert Castro, Vanessa Stalling, Ursula Meyer, Kim Rubinstein, and Harley “the Magnificent” |
|||||
| The Cast Elektra – Savanna Padilla Orestes – Anthony Adu Clytemnestra – Amara Granderson Tutor/King – Lee Vignes Chorus Lead – India Gurley Chrysothemis – Vita Muccia Pylades – Amir Aftabi Chorus – Sophia Donner, Rickie Emilie Farah, Adriana Lopez, India Williams |
The Creative Team |
||||
Director – Juliana Kleist-Mendez Scenic Designer – Nicholas Ponting Costume Designer – Daniella Toscano Lighting Designer – Justin Beets Sound Designer – Andrew Lynch Dramaturg – Kristin Leadbetter Voice and Text Coach – Ursula Meyer Production Stage Manager – Topaz Cooks Music Director – Madison Mae Williams Assistant Director – Natalie Calderon Assistant Scenic Designer – Elizabeth Barrett Assistant Scenic Designer – Michael Kalisz Assistant Lighting Designer – Dean Collins Assistant Stage Manager – Gemma Rose Maliszewski Assistant Stage Manager – Katherine McLeod Production Assistants – Hinako Nishikawa, Karina Vera |
|||||
| Performances | Parking & Location Located at: Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre Parking Passes Required daily. Weeknight passes are $2 per vehicle from the vending machines located in the UC San Diego Theatre District/La Jolla Playhouse parking lots and entry display case. Please remember your parking space number. You will need it to purchase your parking pass. There is no free parking in the campus parking lots on the weekends; parking permits are required on the weekend. There are no-cost and low-cost parking options: • Park in the "Weekend Free Lot" at P782 and walk, bike, scoot or - shuttle to your final destination. • Purchase parking through the Parkmobile app or campus parking pay stations. You will receive the first hour for free and additional time costs just $1.50 per hour. • If you are parking for more than three hours, you can save by purchasing a one-day "D" permit for just $4. (D permits are valid in A, B, S, and V spaces on the weekend unless there are signs indicating otherwise.) Just use the Parkmobile app and enter zone number 4761. • Skip one-day permits altogether and purchase unlimited night and weekend parking for $20/month. Note: Machines take all major credit cards except Discover and when paying with cash you must use exact change, NO CHANGE GIVEN. http://theatre.ucsd.edu/places/parking.html Cars without permits are subject to ticketing by UCSD Campus Police. The Theatre & Dance Department does not have the authority to waive and cannot pay parking tickets. |
||||
| Mon. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sat. |
Dec. 2 Dec. 4 Dec. 5 Dec. 6 Dec. 7 Dec. 7 |
7:30 pm PREVIEW 7:30 pm OPENING 7:30 pm 7:30 pm 2:00 pm 7:30 pm CLOSING |
|||
| Tickets Advance tickets for this production are available only online through the "Click here for tickets" button above. You can purchase tickets online on your phone the night of at the theatre. At-the-Door tickets, if available, can be purchased one hour before show time at the performing theatre’s box office. You can also leave a message at 858-822-3152 with questions and we will get back to you. General Admission: $20 UCSD Faculty/Staff/Alumni Association, and Seniors (over 62): $15 UCSD Students/UCSD Alumni Association (with ID): $10 Please note: No late seating; no refunds. Theatre & Dance Faculty, Staff & Majors Only >> |
|||||
  
|
 |
UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Dr. MC0344, La Jolla, CA 92093
Tel: (858) 534-3791 Fax: (858) 534-1080 |