The Cycle Plays July 7, 2007

FREE – reservations strongly recommended
(415) 621-7978

audiences may come for one or both sittings

First Sitting: 9:30 (10,000, Winterland , Fred Curchack, Letters from a Small House )

Meal Break (food vendors available)

Second Sitting 3:00 (Dark/Silent , mugwumpin, Long Day’s Journey Into Night , Moshe Cohen, Pretty )

Theatre of Yugen is developing The Cycle Plays, five plays performed during the course of a one-day-only presentation informed by the ritualistic Japanese Noh theater, written and directed in an ensemble process by Yugen’s Artistic Associate and playwright Erik Ehn, with musical composition by Allen Whitman and Suki O’Kane.

This marathon theatrical event presents American stories told in the signature poetic, dance-drama style of Yugen, with its roots in the spirit of Noh, reaching up to new movement and narrative forms through original, cutting-edge contemporary music. The five categories of plays forming the traditional Noh architecture are re-invented in the lexicon of Western archetypes and with American legendary figures:

* Winterland – the God play – is about two girls and their quest to see Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols in their last performance at Winterland in San Francisco

* Letters from a Small House – the Warrior play – examines the life of Unabomber Ted Kaczinski

* Dark/Silent – the Woman’s play – centers on Helen Keller

* Long Day's Journey into Night – the fourth category play is a “Deranged Woman play” with an adaptation of O’Neill’s American classic

* Pretty – the fifth category Demon play – is the story of the abduction and murder of a young girl.

The day begins with 10,000 – a ritual dance play featuring three of Yugen’s founding members: Helen Morgenrath, Brenda Wong Aoki and founder Yuriko Doi.

The project team is made up of the ensemble and collaborators from Theatre of Yugen’s award-winning Frankenstein (2003, 2004) as well as guest musicians. Erik Ehn (Playwright and Director) and performed by Sheila Berotti, Max, Jubilith Moore, John Oglevee, Lluís Valls, Libby Zilber, with an opening ritual featuring Yuriko Doi, Stephen Siegel and guest founding members Brenda Wong Aoki and Helen Morgenrath. Allen Whitman & Suki O'Kane are the lead composers and musicians for the Yugen Orchestra which includes Liz Allbee, Dina Emerson, Larnie Fox, Dan Plonsey, Jonathan Segel, Moe! Staiano, Jason Stamberger, and Lexa Walsh. Costumes by Erin Blendu; Set Installation by Larnie and Bodil Fox; Production Management and Lights by Josh McDermott; Dramaturgy by Mei Ann Teo.

Official Website: http://www.theatreofyugen.org