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The Philomel Project

nytheatre.com review by Charles Battersby
August 15, 2005

Philomel figures in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and her story tells how she was brutally raped, then had her tongue cut out (to keep her from identifying her attacker). Refraction Arts is out to tell that tale in The Philomel Project, using avant-garde theatre, plus dance and performance art.Upon entering the theatre, the audience finds the cast already onstage: mournful-looking young women in blue dresses, who are writing on red parchment, playing with red feathers, or dancing with strips of red yarn. On occasion one of the women enters the audience and presents an audience member with a scrap of parchment, a feather, or some yarn. All of which is symbolically related to Philomel.After this prologue, the show proper starts. The first scene begins with just a touch of the surreal, as two gossipy Ancient Greek women discuss the story of Philomel. This is a funny scene, full of deliberate anachronisms (“Jesus!”), but it also provides the audience with vital exposition about the tale of Tereus, Procne, and Philomel, since the rest of the show is very symbolic, and might confused those who haven’t already read Ovid.There follow numerous pieces in dramatic form, dance, and genre-bending styles, re-telling the story. Some of the sequences seem to run on for too long, such as an energetic piece where a three-ring circus in which phallic props such as bananas are used to "rape" yonic items such as bagels. The lengthiness seems to be a directorial issue (direction is by Sonnet Blanton and Julia M. Smith), and causes some genuinely entertaining sequences to overstay their welcome. Other sequences, including a parody of '30s showgirl musical numbers, don’t contribute a whole lot to the main story line, and at times it seems as though the show has been padded up to meet the one-hour mark. (The program encourages the audience to “try to keep up” for the whole hour.)The five women of the cast (Aimee Lasseigne, Carra Martinez, Adriene Mishler, Julia M. Smith, and Carla Witt) are all quite dedicated to their work, and do a good job with the varied styles of performances. They all play an assortment of roles, plus have to sing and dance too.I’ve never been a fan of the avant-garde, and I usually see nude emperors where other people see clothes spun from gold, but even I could see the professionalism and dedication at work in this production. The style of performance here is something that simply doesn't appeal to me, but I suspect The Philomel Project will delight those who do appreciate the avant-garde, and symbolic yarn-dancing.