OBERON becomes a 21st century mead hall in this passionate retelling of the Old English epic poem. Watch as Beowulf sings, struts and slashes his way through a thousand years of literary scholarship, revealing the raw and rowdy SongPlay within. Featuring original music that combines Weillian cabaret, 40’s jazz harmony, punk, electronica and Romantic Lieder composed by Dave Malloy from last season’s sold-out Three Pianos.
Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage
A.R.T. Season
OBERON Shows
April 16, 2013 to May 5, 2013
"Joyfully raucous and silly…
brings out the power and the color of the legend”
The New Yorker
| A SongPlay by | Banana Bag & Bodice |
| Text and lyrics by | Jason Craig |
| Music by | Dave Malloy |
| Co-directors | Rod Hipskind, Mallory Catlett |
| Lighting Design | Miranda Hardy |
| Music Director | Rick Burkhardt |
| Sound Design | Charles Shell |
| Choreography | Shaye Troha, Anna Ishida |
| Costume Design |
SF Bufoons and Enver Chakartash |
| Production Stage Manager | Kelly Shaffer-Allen |
| Dramaturgy | Mallory Catlett |
| Assistant Lighting Design |
Eileen Goddard |
| Light Board Operator |
Justin Paice |
| Additional Sound Crew |
Jesse Vengrove |
| Trombone | Jen Baker, Andy Strain |
| Academic 1 | Rick Burkhardt |
| Academic 3 | Lisa Clair |
| Beowulf | Jason Craig |
| Warrior Vocals | Anna Ishida, Shaye Troha |
| Academic 2 | Jessica Jelliffe |
| Guitar | Sam Kulik |
| Clarinet/Bass Clarinet | Mario Maggio |
| King Hrothgar/Piano | Brian McCorkle |
| Bass | Blake Newman |
| Drums | Peter Wise |
The one-act play, which clocks in at 70 minutes, was first produced in traditional theaters, but the troupe has since performed it in rock clubs and bars. “As soon as we put it in a bar, where people were drinking and hooting and hollering, it really came to life,’’ says Malloy. More
"Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage" is a song-play that both depicts every English major's epic-poem scourge in clever rock opera terms and deconstructs its own deconstruction via mock academic panel analysis. More
This epic poem has been converted for a theater audience and has also been given a twist. More
Mr. Craig is hilariously revenge-of-the-nerdy as Beowulf, his heroic posturing notably at odds with his paunch and his glasses. And those academics turn out to have darker aspects to their personalities: they become Grendel and the other beasts Beowulf confronts. More
Press Releases
For Immediate Release: April 15, 2013
Contact: Kati Mitchell 617-495-2668
kati_mitchell@harvard.edu
A.R.T. and OBERON
present
an epic reading of
BEOWULF
on Thursday, April 25 @ OBERON at 12... More
For Immediate Release: March 11, 2013
Contact: Kati Mitchell 617-495-2668
kati_mitchell@harvard.edu
American Repertory Theater presents
A Banana Bag & Bodice SongPlay
BEOWULF — A Thousand... More
Run time
1 hour and 10 minutes
Venue
2 Arrow St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Need to know
Recommended Grades 9 and up for strong language, subject matter, violence, and graphic images.
Access
Accessibilty
Assistive Listening Devices
Large Print Programs
Performance sponsors:
Sarah Hancock
