Rue for Ophelia
There's rue for you, and here's some for me.
We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays.
O, you must wear your rue with a difference!
We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays.
O, you must wear your rue with a difference!
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Directed by Paul Zmolek, Rue for Ophelia, is an original one-act physical theatre work for Callous veterans Bridget Close and Julie Leir-VanSickle with an original score by Jason Bartosic provided by piano, and cello performed January 23- 25, 2014 as part of the Tell Me a Story performance installation in the Transitions Gallery on the Idaho State University campus in Pocatello.
Traditional analyses of the Shakespearean play Hamlet portray Ophelia as a one-dimensional character who exists primarily to demonstrate Danish Prince’s misogynistic disdain for all women. The tragic character of Ophelia, a seemingly small role amongst the canon of Shakespeare's most memorable characters, continues to have resonance in the popular imagination. Rue for Ophelia, cast for two women to be performed with an original live composition scored for piano, flute and cello, explores Ophelia as enigmatic character through Shakespeare's words/poetry and utilizes postdramatic staging techniques to illuminate the subtext of Shakespeare's Ophelia into a fully embodied character. |
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"Though I have directed Shakespearian theatre, with Rue for Ophelia I am eschewing the constraints of traditional approaches and, instead, utilizing a devising methodology that I have developed for collaboratively creating original postdramatic theatre. The text from Hamlet provides me with the opportunity to further hone and develop this very successful creative methodology for a classical style of canonical theatre. Additionally, this is the first project that the composition of the musical score is realized using the same devising rubric/methodology that is required of my performers. I am working with my composer as well as my performers with my devising methodology based in providing my performers with compositional prompts derived from the words of the script; my previous collaborations with composers have been less directly tied to the creative process utilized with performers." - Paul Zmolek
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Rue for Ophelia is made possible, in part, by the support of the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts |
