Pauline Adamek
Aaron Henne and his company, Theatre Dybbuk, consistently create dynamic, engaging, passionate, and meaningful theatrical works in Los Angeles. Henne’s current piece, Exagoge, is a phenomenally beautiful piece of work that is relevant for our time.
Their next performance is a free outdoor show at Grand Park this Saturday, July 23. No tickets, no rsvp required. Just bring a blanket and a picnic and prepare for a fantastic ride. Full info here and here.
Exagoge is the first recorded Jewish play, thought to have been written in Alexandria and which tells the biblical Exodus narrative in the style of a Greek tragedy.
Although only 269 lines of the original play exist, the company and artistic director/playwright Aaron Henne have used this fragment as the starting point for a full theatrical work, rich in movement, music and poetry.
“We had only a quarter of the play’s length available to us – and the existing fragments are not continuous, but come from different segments of the story,” explained Henne. “Nevertheless, we were able to use this little-known work as the inspiration for a full performance piece, which functions as both a play and a theatrical ritual, incorporating traditional classical masks, stylized movement, and music.”
Relating the ancient story to contemporary issues, the play weaves in modern day narratives of refugee and immigrant experiences to highlight the inclusive nature of the Exodus narrative, and the ongoing crises of people fleeing oppression around the world. The young artists of the Harmony Project Leimert Park Choir will provide the live musical vocabulary for the work, their voices offering a glimpse into the future, where today’s children become tomorrow’s leaders.
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Theatre Dybbuk presents Exagoge
All performances begin at 8 p.m., last approximately 97 minutes with no intermission, and are free.
Grand Park/The Music Center
Saturday, July 23 2016.
Open seating on lawn: bring a blanket.
Limited seating in park chairs around periphery.
Fowler Museum at UCLA
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Open seating in the Amphitheater: bring a blanket. limited stage level chair seating.
INFO:
The work will tour throughout Los Angeles this summer.
This groundbreaking performance is presented in partnership with Temple Israel of Hollywood, where it had its world premiere on June 18, the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts at UCLA Hillel, and Grand Park/The Music Center.
theatre dybbuk is generously supported by a Cutting Edge Grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, with additional support from Hillside Memorial Park.
This production made possible in part thanks to the support of WORD: The Bruce Geller Memorial Prize.
