video

YokastaS redux.

Schechner, Richard, 1934-, Stanescu, Saviana, 1967-, East Coast Artists
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2333.1/vx0k6dwv
Title
YokastaS redux.
Author/Creator
Schechner, Richard, 1934-, Stanescu, Saviana, 1967-, East Coast Artists
Restrictions/Permissions
Access is open to all web users, Copyright holder: Richard Schechner, Contact information: Richard Schechner, 1 Washington Square Village, 1 U, New York, NY 10012, U.S.A., rs4@nyu.edu
Language
English
Date
©2005
Format
1 online resource (2 video files of 2 (video file) (89 min. : part 1, 47 min. ; part 2, 42 min.)) : sound, color.
Credits
Daphne Gaines (Yokasta), Phyllis Johnson (Yoko), Rachel Bowditch (Yono), Jennifer Lim (Yoyo), Christopher Logan Healy (Media, Laius, Oedipus), Sarah Kozinn (Understudy). Richard Schechner, producer, director, writer, set ; East Coast Artists, producer ; Saviana Stanescu, writer ; Benjamin Mosse, assistant director ; Zhen Heinemann, stage manager ; Ryan Jensen, photographic montage ; Oana Botez-Ban, costumes ; Lucrecia Briceno, lighting ; Allen Willner, sound ; Audrey Donohue, sound operator.
Notes

'YokastaS Redux' portrays the mother of Oedipus at four different stages of her life, played by four different actresses. Breaking Yokasta into multiple characters enabled Schechner and Stanescu to reconfigure the story as a plural narrative of conflicting desires and life experiences. The multi-faceted work combines irony, tragedy, humor, sexuality, murder, and pop culture. Yoyo, a prepubescent girl is determined and hopeful as she insists she will not live the life fated for her. Yoko, is first seen on the night she abandons Oedipus and last seen on the night before Laius leaves for his last journey to Delphi. Bitter and angry, Yoko seeks vengeance for her ruined life. Yono welcomes youthful, lusty Oedipus back to Thebes, marries him, bears four children, and trains him to be king. She also describes how, before Oedipus re-entered her life, she drowned her boy newborns. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics

Finally, Yokasta, around 55, a sage and sharp-witted cynic, tours talk shows to denounce the 'lies' that Sophocles and Freud wrote about her. Laius-Oedipus-Talk Show Host is foil, partner, lover, son, and father. In one talk show scene the Yokastas, representing Yokasta, Medea, and Phaedra, argue over who is 'tragedy's baddest mama.' The multiple Yokastas share the stage interacting and disagreeing with each other and, finally, with the audience. Richard Schechner is a theater director, performance theorist and university professor known for being one of the founders of the academic discipline of Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Schechner combines his work in anthropology with innovative approaches to performance of all kinds including ritual, drama, environmental theatre, political rallies, dance, music, etc. in order to consider how performance can be understood not just as an object of study, but also as an active intellectual-artistic practice. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics

He is the editor of 'TDR: The Journal of Performance Studies.' His books include 'Environmental Theater, ' 'The Future of Ritual, ' 'Performance Theory, ' 'Between Theater and Anthropology' and 'Performance Studies: An Introduction.' As of 2007, his books have been translated into 14 languages. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics