Phèdre
April 20 - May 21
by Jean Racine
in a new translation by Rob Melrose
directed by Ariel Craft
Cutting Ball’s Associate Artistic Director Ariel Craft directs this refreshing new take on Jean Racine’s Phèdre, the reigning champion of salacious and scandalous familial dysfunction with roots on ancient Greek tragedy.
About the play
Secret desires unleashed, ruinous deceits perpetrated, a once noble family destroyed...isn’t it astonishing what loneliness can do to a person? Once a devoted wife and a model mother, Phèdre’s resolve swiftly cracks as her attraction to her maturing stepson becomes inescapable and all-enveloping.
Reviews
"Cutting Ball’s “Phèdre” is manna for anyone who’s ever felt too much, whose desire overflowed long past the point where true feeling was cool or palatable." - Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
"Walsh’s talent is arresting. From beginning to end, she commanded attention with a combination of her mastery of the text and her physical stature." - Jeffrey Edalatpour, SF Weekly
"This is a highly rewarding neo-classical tragedy with acting that is near matchless. Leads, Courtney Walsh as Phèdre and Ed Berkeley as Hippolytus, are breathtaking, and the remaining cast members are totally compelling." - Victor Cordell, Theatrius
"Ariel Craft has placed her astute, feminist stamp on the legacy of Euripides’ Hippolytus and Racine’s 1677 Phaèdre." - Steve Murray, For All Events
The Phèdre Family Tree
Phèdre's bloodline is rife with carnal horrors.
Cursed by the god Neptune to fall in love with a bull, Phèdre's mother - Pasiphaë, Queen of Crete - birthed the minotaur: part beast, part human. Minos - King of Crete, Phèdre's father and Pasiphaë's husband - constructed an elaborate labyrinth to imprison the shameful creature and there it remained until Theseus, hero of Athens, stepped ashore on a mission to slay the monster.
It was Phèdre's sister, Ariadne, who forged a connection with Theseus during his time at Crete, as she aided his hunt through the labyrinth. But, after conquering the minotaur, Theseus came to find Ariadne's company tedious and abandoned her on an island, opting to marry her sister, Phèdre instead, after he returned to Athens.
Theseus was, actually, already married at the time: to an Amazonian woman, Antiope. Fierce warrior that she was, she stormed Theseus' castle in battle on the day he was to marry Phèdre and ended up dead by Theseus' own sword, leaving behind their son: a young Hippolytus.
Many years later, Hippolytus - a newly grown man - resides on the island of Trezene, and serves as gatekeeper for Aricia: his father's captive and the last of the bloodline of the royal Pallantides, all killed by Theseus (now King) to crush a coup that could have dethroned him. Theseus sails off on another "heroic" quest and leaves Phèdre and their two boys on the island of Trezene, with Hippolytus.
Join us for a pre-show talk with docent Mary-Kay Gamel on May 13th
Mary-Kay Gamel earned her PhD in Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley. She taught Greek and Latin language and literature as well as theater and film at the University of California, Santa Cruz for forty-two years. In 1985 she had a what she considers "a call from Dionysus" when she was asked to write a translation of Euripides’ Medea for the stage and participated in the rehearsal process. Since then she has been involved (as translator/adaptor, director, dramaturg, and/or producer) in forty-some productions of ancient drama including Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Plautus, Terence, Seneca, and Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, in Santa Cruz, across the U.S., and abroad. She has written widely on ancient Mediterranean drama in performance. She is at work on a volume on authenticity in staging Greek and Roman drama and plans to publish her adaptations with notes and video. Now living in Sonoma, she is Chair of the Board of Directors of Sonoma Arts Live, the Sonoma community theater.
Ariel Craft (director) is Cutting Ball's Associate Artistic Director and the Artistic Director of the Tenderloin-based theater, The Breadbox. Recent directing credits include the acclaimed Awakening as well as The Pillowman, Lorca's Blood Wedding and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Ariel holds a BFA with Honors from New York University where she studied directing and multidisciplinary theatre-making at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School. She was an Artistic Fellow at the American Conservatory Theater and previously served as Assistant Artistic Director at The Custom Made Theatre Co. Ariel was recently awarded Theatre Bay Area’s Titan Award.
Courtney Walsh (Phèdre) will portray Phèdre with keen insight into the tragedy’s roots, having recently returned from Athens and Nafplio, Greece, where she played the title role in Clytemnestra: Tangled Justice, after an international tour. Courtney is a member of the professional core acting company of Stanford Repertory Theater, where she has appeared for the last nine seasons. She has a BA from Yale University and is an equestrienne and mother of four. For more about Courtney, visit her website.
Karen Offereins (Oenone) is excited to be making her Cutting Ball debut. She was last seen in SF Playhouse's The Rules and has previously performed with Shotgun Players.
Ed Berkeley (Hippolytus) is a Bay Area based actor originally from the east. This production is certainly a great addition to his time here in The Bay. He's ecstatic to get to share the great work that the entire cast has been working hard to develop. Previous productions include: “In Love and Warcraft” at The Custom Made Theatre and “Colossal” at SF Playhouse and “Bagyo” at Theatre First.
Cecily Bednar Schmidt (Aricia) was most recently seen as Logainne in Spelling Bee with Bay Area Musicals and Smee in Peter & the Starcatcher with The Berkeley Playhouse. She recently received her BA from the University of California Berkeley in Theatre & Cognitive Science where her favorite credits include Susannah in A Murder of Crows, Little Sally in Urinetown, Barbara in Summertime, and Quince in Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Kenneth Heaton (Theseus) recently appeared opposite Hugh Laurie in Hulu’s Chance, and as Harold in Boxcar Theatre’s The Speakeasy.
Brennan Pickman-Thoon (Theramenes) is excited return to Bay Area theatre in Phèdre! New York: The Mormon Bird Play (New York Fringe Festival), Stalled (Unchained Theatre Festival), The Lion in Winter & Aesop's Fables (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble). Bay Area: Landscape of the Body (Bigger Than A Breadbox), Julius Caesar & The Winter's Tale (California Shakespeare Theater).
Neiry Rojo's (Ismene) recent productions include A Streetcar Named Desire, Anna in the Tropics, & Jane Austen's Emma. She earned her MA in Theatre Arts from UC Santa Cruz.
Emily Radosevich (Panope) is thrilled to be a part of Phèdre at Cutting Ball. Past credits include: Top Girls (A.C.T.), A Streetcar Named Desire and 4000 Miles (Novato Theatre Company), Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play (NYU), Sycamore (Playwrights Foundation), The Upper Room (IRT Theatre). B.F.A, NYU Tisch.
Design Staff:
Scenic Designer: Nina Ball
Costume Designer: Brooke Jennings
Lighting Designer: Nick Kumamoto
Sound Designer: Brian Hickey
Properties Designer: Liz Stanley
Technical Director: Dave Gardner
Special Thanks
48Hills
KQED