PENTHESILEA. - Boy meets girl. Girl eats boy.

Performing Arts
Edinburgh, GB
FUNDED

Playades Theatre Company presents

PENTHESILEA

BY HEINRICH VON KLEIST. IN A NEW TRANSLATION BY JOEL AGEE.

London Performances:
July 22, 23, 24, 25, 28 at 8pm, The Space, London (space.org.uk/2013/03/15/penthesilea)

EdFringe Performances:
August 1 – 25 at 9pm, SweetVenues, International 2. (www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/penthesilea)

 

THE SHOW

In a world at war, nothing is more dangerous than falling in love.

Achilles the Greek and Penthesilea the Amazon have been raised in disregard for the opposite sex and instilled with a power to dominate it. To meet each other on equal terms, they will have to go against their society, their religion and their friends.

PENTHESILEA is a powerful myth of gender war, culture clash and lethal love.

Inspired by Greek drama (in particular the Bacchae), Kleist creates his very own dystopian vision of gender relations -  a “brittle world, on which the gods look down but from afar.” Kleist traces passion at its purest, gentlest, cruelest.

Watch some excerpts from our dress rehearsal: https://vimeo.com/70867262

WHY FUND PENTHESILEA?

Heinrich von Kleist was a playwright ahead of his time. His analyses of politics and human nature were uncomfortable, therefore banned and censored. After leading a marginalized existence for many decades, Kleist is now recognized as an uncomfortable classic (along e.g. with Büchner).

Joel Agee’s powerful translation of Kleist’s tragedy was awarded the  Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize , Tony Kushner called it “pitch perfect in its sensitivity to Kleist's irony, his complexity, his icy, tormented passion. A work of literature in its own right, Agee's text is also, perhaps best of all, dazzlingly stageworthy. "

In bringing his most powerful and controversial play to Edinburgh for the first time ever, we strive to introduce a wider audience to Kleist’s poetic language and passionate subjectivity.

By supporting PENTHESILEA, you will grant us the opportunity to show an adventurous and ambitious piece of work at the world’s most exciting theatre festival.

PENTHESILEA will be Playades Theatre Company’s third trip to the Edinburgh Fringe. After 4 and 5 star reviews for our past production, we are now venturing the full 4 weeks with a comparatively large cast of 8 actors and actresses.

Playades Theatre Company is a young company with a keen interest in exploring untold female narratives, thereby casting an unusual look on how the genders relate to each other.

We strive to celebrate cultural exchange in our choice both of plays and of actors. Over the past 3 years, we have had company members with roots in Austria, Canada, England, France, India, Italy, Romania, Scotland, South Korea, Switzerland, Tanzania and the US.

 

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Taking a show with 8 actors to Edinburgh for the full 4 weeks will cost the company around 7’500£ (travel, theatre hire, accommodation).

We hope to recoup over half of that amount in ticket money, leaving a sensitive 3’000£ we need to raise by other means.

Your contribution will be instrumental in ensuring the future of a bold young theatre company, and as a token of our gratitude, you will be able to enjoy one of the rewards listed to the right.

 

IF YOU CAN’T SUPPORT US WITH CASH...

....let other people know! Share the link on Facebook, forward the email, tell your friends. The more people that see our page the more likely we are to get the pennies together to make it happen!

The other obvious way you can help is to come see the show in July in London and in Edinburgh in August and spread the word!

London: July 22, 23, 24, 25, 28 at 8pm, The Space, London (space.org.uk/2013/03/15/penthesilea)

Edinburgh: August 1 – 25 at 9pm, SweetVenues, International 2. (www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/penthesilea)

 

QUESTIONS?

Just ask. You can email , contact us on Twitter (@playadestheatre), find us on Facebook, or via www.playades.co.uk

Gallery: 
Downloads: 
Penthesilea_Press Release_Sweet.doc

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GBP £2,500
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A SWARM OF ARROWS

£5.00 or more : Thank you, 5£ is the cost of 500 flyers. Every day, each company member will spend time on the Royal Mile and around Edinburgh promoting the show to approx. 1 million visitors that come to the Fringe every year. All in all, we’ll be handing out about 15’000 flyers. A flyer is like an arrow – well targeted, it cannot miss. We’ll thank you on Twitter and your name goes in the draw for a copy of Joel Agee’s translation with illustrations by Maurice Sendak.

 

A MESSENGER

£10.00 or more : The price of a ticket. - If you can’t see our show in person, by donating 10£ towards the production, you’re letting us know you’re there in spirit. Since Playades Theatre Company receives no institutional funding, we have to sell 700 tickets to break even. To thank you for your support from afar, we’ll send you an email and your name will be entered in the draw for a copy of Joel Agee’s translation with illustrations by Maurice Sendak.

 

A BED OF ROSES

£25.00 or more : 25£ is approximately what the company will be spending per room, per night. We'll all be living together in a big flat, two people per room, with hopefully plenty of food and fun in the kitchen. - To thank you for your contribution towards a home away from home, we'll jointly write you a little bedtime story. But we'll write it late at night, so no guarantees it won't be scary or nonsensical.

 

A HORSE

£40.00 or more : Thank you – you have paid for one of our company to travel up to Edinburgh by bus and back (S)he will send you a card, and include one of Penthesilea’s roses (not edible, even for horses…) as a keepsake. Your name will also appear on our website as a sponsor.

 

A HERO

£50.00 or more : You’ve clothed and equipped an actor. Thanks to you, (s)he will not have to enter the stage as the Ancient Greeks did the Olympic games – naked. (Did you know this rule exited to make sure no women were on the sports grounds?) We’ll send you a production shot so you can see what the Greeks and Amazons look like in cloths and armour. We’ll also give you a ticket to a performance of your choice, so you can watch them in action. You’ll be listed as a sponsor on our website and with some luck win in the draw.

 

A LOYAL FRIEND

£100.00 or more : You’ve paid for one evening’s theatre hire. – Doing a profit share production means none of the cast or creatives get paid unless the production generates a profit. So far, we’ve invested over 1’000 hours of researching, rehearsing, scheduling, sewing, editing, organizing, line-learning, fine-tuning… - because we believe the text and story are worth it and want to bring it to life! Your generous contribution gives us a place to show our work. To thank you, we’ll give you two tickets to any show of your choice and a poster signed by the cast. You will be listed in our programme as a sponsor.

 

MARS, OUR PROTECTOR

£200.00 or more : Your generous donation gives us access to a rehearsal room. It grants us the space we need to explore the text and create the play. Be our guest at a rehearsal or join the warm up before an Edinburgh performance and catch glance behind the scenes. We’ll also give you two tickets to a performance of your choice and list you in the program and the website as our sponsor. If you're a business, we'll add your logo to our programme and website.

 

APHRODITE

£500.00 or more : You’ve sponsored an actor. You’ve sent him/her to Edinburgh, paid for 4 weeks of accommodation and brought them safely back home again. Performing at the Fringe is one of the most strenuous and rewarding experiences an actor can make. To thank you for becoming a patron or our company, we will give you 4 tickets to a performance of your choice and insure you and your friends have the best seats in the house. We will thereafter invite you backstage in London or to our Edinburgh home base to meet the company and have drinks and food with us. (Greek of course.) If you run a business, we will give it an advert in our program and link on our website.