Occupy Olympus @ Fringe NYC an adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedic play: Plutus, god of Wealth, Aug 16-21st
Paul Bartlett
A play whose time has come, 2013 August 16th-21st @ NYC Fringe Festival
Occupy Olympus @ Fringe NYC an adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedic play: Plutus, god of Wealth
MAGIS THEATRE COMPANY TO PRESENT WORLD PREMIERE OF OCCUPY OLYMPUS,
ITS NEW ADAPTATION OF ARISTOPHANES’ COMEDY, PLUTUS, GOD OF WEALTH,
AT NYC’S INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL ON AUGUST 16, 2013, at 7 PM
Directed by George Drance, with original music by Elizabeth Swados
Magis Theatre Company, the critically acclaimed theatre organization founded in 2003 by an ensemble of actors and teaching artists who came together out of the desire to teach, desire to train and desire to act, has been invited to present the world premiere of Occupy Olympus, its new adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedic play
Plutus, god of Wealth, at the 17th Annual NY International Fringe Festival in NYC starting Friday, August 16 at 7 PM at
the Flamboyan Theater at Clemente Soto Velez Center, 107 Suffolk Street, on the Lower East Side. Magis Theatre
Company Artistic Director George Drance will direct the production, with music by Elizabeth Swados.
There will be four additional performances on Saturday, August 17, at 7 PM, Sunday, August 18, at 2 PM,* Monday,
August 19, at 2 PM, and Wednesday, August 21, at 5:15 PM.
Occupy Olympus is an original, contemporary and highly topical reworking of Aristophanes’ comedy, Plutus. The Greek playwright Aristophanes is best known for his comedies, The Birds and The Frogs, but he also wrote Plutus, a positively prophetic comedy about wealth, greed, and the disparity between rich and poor. More than 2,400 years before Wall Street was occupied, the ancient Greeks occupied Olympus! The Magis Theatre Company adapts the script, and direction is by George Drance, the company’s Artistic Director. Original music is composed by internationally acclaimed, award-‐winning composer, Elizabeth Swados. This world premiere production features Magis Theatre Company members George Drance, Margi Sharp Douglas, Erika Iverson, Taylor Valentine, Sajeev Pillai, Lindsay Lark, Becca Ballenger, Ronalda Nicholas, Wendy Mapes and musicians Uriel Frazier (musical director), Arron Kim and Christine Arboleda. Creative consultant is Morgan Jenness.
In reviews of past Magis Theatre productions, The New York Times has declared, “The Magis Theatre Company is daring to be different.” The company has produced a variety of actor-‐driven, physically based theatre productions that explore the human condition. These productions included: The Winter’s Tale, part of the "Play Outside!" Festival sponsored by The Shakespeare Project; The Great Divorce, a adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ fantastical spiritual tale, called “thought provoking” and “long on theatrical skill” by The New York Times; Her Name Is Vincent, a cabaret about the Millay Sisters; and Shakuntala and the Ring of Recognition, praised by The New York Times as, “imaginatively staged… visually appealing use of elemental stagecraft… accessible, delightful.
Director George Drance has performed and directed in over 20 countries on five continents. He has served as artistic director of Theatre YETU in Kenya and artistic associate for Teatro la Fragua in Honduras. He currently serves as Artist-‐in-‐residence at Fordham University, and has been a guest artist and lecturer at Columbia, Cornell, and Marquette Universities, Marymount Manhattan College, Hebrew Union College, and Boston College.
Perhaps best known for her Broadway and international smash hit Runaways, Elizabeth Swados has composed, written, and directed issue-‐oriented theatre for over 30 years. Her work has been performed on Broadway, Off-‐Broadway, at La MaMa, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, and locations all over the world. Her awards include: Five Tony nominations, three Obie Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Ford Grant, Helen Hayes Award, Lila Acheson Wallace Grant, PEN, and others. This is her third collaboration with Magis Theatre.
The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) is the largest multi-‐arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues. FringeNYC will celebrate its 17th Anniversary on August 9th -‐ 25th, 2013. Occupy Olympus performance dates and location are to be announced in mid-‐June. Check the Fringe Festival website for details or log on to www.occupyolympus.com
*As participants in the FringeHIGH series, we will be conducting a 45-minute talk-back immediately following
this performance.
Contact: Les Schecter (LS Communcations)
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E-‐Mail: lester....@gmail.com