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Villa Theater Lab

An exciting forum for the reinterpretation of classical theater, the Villa Theater Lab series features new translations of Greek and Roman plays as well as contemporary works inspired by ancient literature. Tickets are only $7.

Performances resume in fall 2009.

Selected past performances:

February 1–3, 2008: Penelope

February 15–17, 2008: Oedipus El Rey

April 11–13, 2008: Philoktetes

May 16–18, 2008: Icarus

October 17–19, 2008: Surf Orpheus

February 20–22, 2009: Orestes

April 17–19, 2009: Oedipus: The King, Mama!

May 15–17, 2009: Antigone


Ellen McLaughlin
Penelope

Dates: Friday, February 1, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 2, 2008, 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 3, 2008, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

Award-winning actor and playwright Ellen McLaughlin brings her one-woman theatrical/musical piece Penelope to the Getty Villa's Theater Lab. A woman's husband appears at her door after an absence of 20 years, suffering from brain damage. A veteran of a modern war, he doesn't know who he is and she doesn't know who he's become. While they wait together for his return to himself, she reads him The Odyssey, and in the journey of that book, she finds a way into her former husband's memory and the terror and trauma of war. McLaughlin combines her talents with those of composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and the Eclipse Ensemble under the direction of director Lisa Rothe to present a modern adaptation of this ancient text, which continues to resonate today.


Ellen McLaughlin

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Luis Alfaro and Jon Lawrence Rivera
Oedipus El Rey

Dates: Friday, February 15, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 16, 2008, 3:00 p.m. (followed by special talkback with the playwright and director) and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 17, 2008, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

Playwright Luis Alfaro, recipient of a 1997 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and director Jon Lawrence Rivera present this violent and charged adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. A restless young man, recently paroled out of a California state prison, enters the underworld of la vida loca in the barrios of downtown Los Angeles in his desire to escape his past and destiny. A violence awaits as the secrets of his life haunt him while he challenges the gods in his desire to be a king.

This workshop contains adult themes and strong language.

Talkback with Luis Alfaro and Jon Lawrence Rivera
Following the afternoon performance on Saturday, February 16, playwright Luis Alfaro and director Jon Lawrence Rivera discuss the making of the play and take your questions.


Luis Alfaro

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Michael Hackett and Henry Goodman
Philoktetes

Dates: Friday, April 11, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 12, 2008, 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 13, 2008, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

Director Michael Hackett and Olivier Award-winning British actor Henry Goodman collaborate to bring Sophocles' great meditation on war, honor, and the nature of truth, Philoktetes, to the Getty Villa's Theater Lab series.

Originally performed in 409 B.C., the twenty-second year of the Peloponnesian War, Philoktetes won first prize at the Festival of Dionysius, the most important theatrical festival in ancient Greece. It is the tenth year of the Trojan War and the Greeks are at standstill—the war is dragging on endlessly. By a prophecy they learn that, in order to win, they must have Philoktetes' magical bow and arrows. But nine years before, the Greeks had abandoned Philoktetes, wounded, on a deserted island. Returning to the island, Odysseus determines to trick Philoktetes. His accomplice in deception is the idealistic soldier Neoptolemus, the young son of the dead Achilles.

The play poses the question of whether it is ever justifiable to act against ethical codes in order to achieve a higher good.


Michael Hackett

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Lookingglass Theatre Company
Icarus

Dates: Friday, May 16, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 17, 2008, 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 18, 2008, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

Chicago's critically acclaimed Lookingglass Theatre Company presents Icarus, an inventive new work created by artistic director David Catlin. Inspired by the myth of Icarus and Daedalus, Icarus brings Lookingglass's highly visual and physical aesthetic to this ancient story. Using myth, psychological theory, visual metaphor, song, gravity-defying circus, and complex choreographic movement, Icarus explores the psychological desire to take to the air, the need of a father to have his child succeed, and the dizzying despair of falling.

Talkback with David Caitlin
Following the 3:00 p.m. performance on Saturday, May 17, director David Caitlin and members of the Icarus cast discuss the making of the play and take your questions.


Lookingglass Theatre Company performs Icarus

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L'Atelier Arts
Surf Orpheus

Dates: Friday, October 17, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 18, 2008, 3:00 p.m. (followed by a special talkback with the writer/director) and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 19, 2008, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

Writer/director Corey Madden, composer Bruno Louchouarn, and choreographer Jacques Haim blend music, movement, and myth in this still-developing work of contemporary musical theater. As this ambitious project approaches completion, Villa Theater Lab is pleased to present a "concert staging" of Surf Orpheus that re-envisions this ancient love story through the lens of Southern California's surf culture, the sounds of contemporary music, and images of the beach, the sea, and our dreams.

Talkback with Corey Madden
Following the afternoon performance on Saturday, October 18, writer/director Corey Madden discusses the making of Surf Orpheus and takes your questions.

This workshop contains adult themes and strong language.


Surf Orpheus

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Ghost Road
Orestes

Dates: Friday, February 20, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 21, 2009, 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 22, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

Orestes is the third part of Home Siege Home, a disarmingly funny but ultimately heartbreaking trilogy of new plays based on The Oresteia and devised by Ghost Road, one of California's most ambitious experimental multimedia theater ensembles. In this final play of the trilogy, a royal family has been decimated by its own actions. Orestes is tormented by his memories of having killed his mother, Clytemnestra; the Furies seek revenge for their fallen leader; and the gods Apollo and Athena struggle to extract some peace and justice from the rubble. Revenge, personal responsibility, and familial duty collide as the characters struggle to discover their places in a world that is changing around them.


Ghost Road performs Orestes

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Troubadour Theater Company
Oedipus: The King, Mama!

Dates: Friday, April 17, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 18, 2009, 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

What happens when Sophocles meets Graceland? Find out when the Los Angeles-based Troubadour Theater Company, a freewheeling, no-holds-barred, commedia dell'arte-flavored ensemble of actors, musicians, and comedians, tackles the ancient Greek tragedy. Their fast-paced, laugh-filled, loose adaptations of classic plays (As U2 Like It, Fleetwood Macbeth) and films (It's a Stevie Wonderful Life), as well as their original productions and sketch material, guarantee that this will not be your mama's Oedipus cycle.


Elvis adorns a poster for Oedipus: The King, Mama!

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The SITI Company
Antigone

Dates: Friday, May 15, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 16, 2009, 3:00 p.m. (followed by special talkback with the playwright) and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 17, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Villa, Auditorium
Admission: Tickets $7.

Director Anne Bogart and the members of her New York City-based ensemble—founded to redefine and revitalize contemporary theater in the United States through international cultural exchange—bring to the Villa the first public presentations of their latest project, an adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone by Irish dramaturge and translator Jocelyn Clarke.

Talkback with Jocelyn Clarke
Following the 3:00 p.m. performance on Saturday, May 16, playwright Jocelyn Clarke discusses the making of the workshop and takes your questions.


SITI Company

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Important Ticket Information
An event ticket is required to attend, and must be presented upon arrival to enter the site. Tickets are valid until 15 minutes before the start of the performance, doors open 30 minutes prior. Notice of cancellation is appreciated; please call (310) 440-7300.



How to Get Here
The Getty Villa is located at 17985 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, approximately 25 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. Parking is $10. See Hours, Directions, Parking for directions and parking information.

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