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09.29.2005

Contacts: Hunter Hanger, 404.712.9118, hhanger@emory.edu
and Nancy Condon, 404.727.1687, ncondon@emory.edu

THEATER EMORY AND OUT OF HAND THEATER PRESENT A MODERN RETELLING OF “ALCESTIS”

Theater Emory presents “Alcestis,” the ancient Greek Euripides epic translated and adapted by Ted Hughes, from Oct. 6 to 16, 2005. Produced in collaboration with Atlanta’s Out Of Hand Theater, this modern retelling finds Queen Alcestis willing to sacrifice herself for the life of the King, only to be rescued from the underworld by the raucous and forceful Heracles. The production’s opening night celebrates the beginning of an international conference at Emory University investigating the works of Ted Hughes, whose writings are housed within Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) in the Woodruff Library. Performances are Oct. 6-8 and 13-14 at 7 p.m. in the Mary Gray Munroe Theater, Dobbs University Center, 605 Asbury Cir. Special environmental re-stagings will be presented in Emerson Concert Hall, Schwartz Center, 1700 N. Decatur Rd., on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 16 at 2 p.m.

For tickets and information, the public may call 404-727-5050 or visit www.arts.emory.edu. For Theater Emory information, visit www.theater.emory.edu.

Emory alumna and Out Of Hand Theater co-producing artistic director Ariel de Man will direct “Alcestis.” The partnership of Theater Emory and Out Of Hand Theater is “a great opportunity for all of the students and the audience to experience our style,” says de Man. “It’s a highly physical style of ensemble creation.” With a large cast of Emory students and professional actors, de Man and her Out Of Hand Theater colleagues, Adam Fristoe and Maia Knispel, are working to create “huge, physical scenes.” The cast also includes Theater Emory producing artistic director Vincent Murphy, a recent Public Broadcasting Atlanta Lexus Leader of the Arts.
Ted Hughes’s tragi-comical adaptation has inspired the production elements. “In Hughes’s work, the language is so stark and beautiful, like his poetry. The world of ‘Alcestis’ is a beautiful paradise but the events happening in this paradise are hideous and vicious,” notes de Man. “It’s foreign and exotic, and it’s a place where the ancient and the modern are side by side. Hospitality has a huge role in this play, and is a sacred duty in modern India. In Indian films, there are gods and kings and servants co-existing with Western influences so the setting of modern India seemed like a good fit for this production,” de Man explained.
Set design for the production is by H. Bart McGeehon; costume design is by English Toole; lighting design is by Robert J. Turner; and sound design is by Joseph P. Monaghan III.
General admission tickets are $15 for the general public; $12 for non-Emory students, patrons over 65, and discount category members; and $6 for Emory students. Pay-What-You-Can Night (for door sales only) is Oct. 7.
Free parking is available in the Peavine and Fishburne parking decks on weekends and after 5 p.m. on weekdays. Paid visitor parking is available daily in the visitor sections of the Peavine and Fishburne decks.

THEATER EMORY
Theater Emory is a producing organization of Emory University and is affiliated with the Department of Theater Studies. It is a member of the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts and operates under a seasonal agreement with Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
ARTS AT EMORY MISSION
Emory University provides a dynamic, multi-disciplinary environment for the study, creation and presentation of the arts.

Calendar Listing
Theater Emory and Out of Hand Theater present “Alcestis”
Oct. 6-8 and 13-14, 7 p.m., Mary Gray Munroe Theater, Emory’s Dobbs University Center (Oct. 7 is Pay-What-You-Can Night at the door)
Oct. 15, 7 p.m., and Oct. 16, 2 p.m., Emory’s Emerson Concert Hall, Schwartz Center
$15 ($12, non-Emory students, patrons over 65, and discount category members; $6 for Emory students)
Written by Euripedes and translated by Ted Hughes, this modern retelling of the ancient Greek epic finds Queen Alcestis willing to sacrifice herself for the life of the King, only to be rescued from the underworld by the raucous and forceful Heracles.

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