Avant Bard | theatre on the edge
Each mainstage production will feature at least two free readings or workshops from our ongoing Scripts in Play Reading Series, which began so successfully with this year’s month-long Scripts in Play Festival, and has already yielded world premieres of The Good Devil (In Spite of Himself) and TAME.
Wrecks by Matthew Minnicino Directed by Charlene Smith 7:30pm Monday, March 6, 2017
A quirky complement to The Gospel at Colonus, Wrecks introduces us to the story of Oedipus from a darkly comic and distinctly contemporary point of view: on her first day on the job, a novice priestess has to break the bad news to the young prince about the awful fate that awaits him. As Oedipus’ tale unravels and the priestess discovers piece after tragic piece of his life, they each wrestle with their perceptions of fate, human misery, and riddles.
Jealous of Herself by Tirso de Molina Directed by Angela Kay Pirko 7:30pm Monday, March 13, 2017
An ingenious comedy by a giant of Spanish theatre, Jealous of Herself examines desire, deception, and disguise – and it all begins with a love affair between a man and a beautiful hand. The man believes that the veiled woman attached to the hand must be equally stunning, and immediately dismisses his arranged bride-to-be without knowing that the two women are one-and-the-same. In response, the young woman assumes the role of her own alter-ego, creating two selves: one real and visible, the other an unattainable fantasy. Jealous of Herself examines the absurdity of male desire from the perspective of the imagined woman – a surprisingly modern plot that is being told for the first time in nearly 400 years.