Notice to All Deaf/Hearing Impaired Audience Members Located Around Chicago

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 11:04am

A fully signed performance of MEDEA is scheduled on July 2nd at 3:00 PM

BackStage presents an Innovative Interpretation
Of Euripides’ Classic Featuring American Sign Language

BackStage Theatre Company presents the classic Greek drama Medea by Euripides as translated by Ian Johnston. Medea opens June 24 and runs through July 23, 2006, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 P.M. and Sundays at 3:00 P.M. Performances are at the Chopin Studio Theater, 1543 W. Division Avenue in Wicker Park, Chicago.

Medea is Euripides' riveting dissection of love, hate, treachery and retribution set in a world of cultural estrangement. Deadly games and personal anguish become public fodder, as one woman succumbs to passion's dark side, and regains her autonomy at a horrific price. A provocative mixture of spoken English and American Sign Language, this production will include fully signed performances on selected dates and feature original music by award winning composer, Natasha Bogojevich.

Director and BSTC ensemble member Michael Pacas holds an MFA in Directing from DePaul University and has been performing locally for almost fifteen years, most recently in BackStage’s own Jeff Nominated The Skin of Our Teeth. When asked his thoughts about choosing Medea and specifically the use of ASL, he says “Mention ‘Medea,’ and we envision Susan Smith's Burgundy Mazda Protégé slowly slipping into the waters of John D. Long Lake. There is no surprise ending; the children must and will die. […W]e are left wondering what could have driven somebody, perhaps even ourselves, to commit such a horrific act. Medea is as powerful today as it was in 431 B.C. because it confronts our anxieties over gender politics and our fears of encountering or being the outsider. In a predominately hearing society, we erroneously assume that our brief encounters with American Sign Language will prepare us for the challenges of interacting with a culture which exists and thrives all around us. By presenting Medea and Jason as a hearing/deaf couple, we hope to show how personal interactions can crumble leading to devastating results. Having little experience with ASL, most of the cast, production staff, and I relish the chance to move beyond our comfort zones so that we can provoke the audience to move beyond theirs.”

This adaptation of a translation by Ian Johnston will be performed by a 12 person cast featuring Lori Grupp, Whitney Hayes, Jules Lambert, Chris Lopez, Peter Navis, Eric Paskey, Kerensa Peterson, Keta Roth, Allen Schaefer, Jill Slattery, Karen Yates, and Seth Zurer.

BackStage Theatre Company strives to present original plays, Chicago premieres and fresh interpretations of established works in the belief that this personal relationship will continually foster an expanding theatre audience. BackStage concludes its 6th and most successful season of production with Medea in the wake of Jeff Nominated The Skin of Our Teeth, and the wildly acclaimed Denise Druczweski’s Inferno.

Tickets for Medea are $15 and $12 for Students/Seniors. Group rates are available. For ticket reservations and more information on Medea, call 312-683-5347 or visit www.backstagetheatrecompany.org.