Pylade
Recommended for Adults Only
Written by Pier Paolo Pasolini
English Translation of Pylade is by Adam Paolozza and Coleen MacPherson
Directed by Ivica Buljan; Assistant Directed by Arthur Adair
Performed by Great Jones Repertory Company with Marco Mandić
Music composed by Michael Sirotta, additional music by Yukio Tsuji and Heather Paauwe
Pasolini’s PYLADE, a contemporary reinterpretation of the relationship between Pylades and Orestes from Greek mythology and the ORESTEIA, is a poetic, tragic meditation on democracy, consumerism, and the struggle for real social change. The rhythm and emotion of Pasolini’s text, translated into English by Adam Paolozza and Coleen MacPherson, is heightened by the music and movement incorporated into this production by Buljan and GJRC, to create a total theatre of movement, text, spectacle and music.
The Great Jones Repertory Company, the legendary troupe (founded by La MaMa’s late founder Ellen Stewart, director Andrei Serban, and composer Elizabeth Swados) will collaborate with Croatian director Ivica Buljan on the U.S. Premiere of Pasolini’s play, Pylades, based on the Oresteia. The Pylade cast features guest Slovenian actor, Marko Mandić as Pylade with Great Jones Rep company members Mia Yoo, Perry Yung, Chris Wild, Cary Gant, Eugene the Poogene, Maura Donahue, Valois Mickens, John Gutierrez, and Tunde Sho as Orestes.
PLEASE NOTE: this is a very physical performance and while there is no audience participation, the audience is very close to the action.
ABOUT GREAT JONES REPERTORY
Formerly under the direction of La MaMa’s late founder, Ellen Stewart, GREAT JONES REPERTORY COMPANY is an OBIE-winning company known for their experimental productions of Greek tragedy that employ classical elements, unique visual, design and performance styles, world music, and movement. Started in 1972 by Ellen Stewart, Andrei Serban, and Elizabeth Swados, GJRC is an intergenerational, racially and ethnically diverse ensemble of artists, actors, designers, and musicians whose landmark works remain a significant part of La MaMa’s history, most notably, FRAGMENTS OF A GREEK TRILOGY (1972), which ushered in a new movement in American ensemble theatre and was noted as one of the most brilliant works of its time. Great Jones Repertory Company’s numerous New York productions and international tours include MEDEA, ANTIGONE , SEVEN AGAINST THEBES, ELECTRA, MYTHOS OEDIPUS, and DIONYSUS: FILIUS DEI, ANGELS OF SWEDENBORG, and FRAGMENTS OF A GREEK TRILOGY.
La MaMa gratefully acknowledges Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support as well as public support for Pyladefrom The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, with special thanks to City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and National Endowment for the Arts.
Great Jones Repertory Company
La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory Company (GJRC) is an intergenerational ensemble of diverse artists, pioneering new forms of storytelling through radical physicality, voice, and movement.
“The Best Play of the New York Season. Woe unto you if you have not seen it. Seeing it once is not even a true option. You have to return to it again in order to fully extoll its hard-core politico-sensationalism.”
~Randy Gener, CultureofOneWorld.org
“Pylade is a one of a kind production, that shines because of its fearlessness and commitment…director Ivica Buljan, delivers the kind of work that you know will haunt each person who saw it.”
“under Ivica Buljan’s fine direction and the company’s terrific performances—especially that of Marko Mandić in the lead role—it also makes for an intense and entertaining (if difficult to digest at times) evening of theater.”
“This production achieves this mixture of sacrilegious and transcendence through an alchemy of sound, movement, and acting…Marko Mandic is one of the bravest actors in the city.”
~Aurin Squire, New York Theatre Review
“The clarity of the Greeks, the raw intellectuals of Pasolini, and the boldness of La MaMa make up for an invaluable spectacle in New York City.”
~ Mateus Ciucci Ferreira, Theatre is Easy
“A grand display of dynamic staging combining dance, physical combat, and glorious tableaux!”
~ Darryl Reilly, TheaterScene.net
“Pylade is the tragedy of the hubris of the liberal elite and the nihilism of the disenfranchised — a tragedy our world is presently living through again as people across the globe increasingly turn to extremist ideology….we feel the full brunt of this tale of cyclical cataclysmic confrontation.”
~Zachary Stewart, TheaterMania
Follow all of the action behind the scenes on the La MaMa Storify page!
Relive the post-show talk back about the legacy of Pasolini HERE!
Broadway World announces the return of Great Jones Rep to La MaMa!
Watch Ivica Buljan answer questions about Pylade!
Find out more about Pasolini on the La MaMa Blog!