DAUGHTERS OF TROY to Mix Theatre and Visual Art on Governors Island

Daughters of Troy was granted a week long residency on Governors Island in New York through Barton Booth's MAKE ROOM initiative. The residency will feature free presentations of the theatrical work-in-progress along with an exhibition of artwork inspired by the women of the Trojan War on Saturday, Sept. 3 & Sunday, Sept. 4 at 12pm, 1pm & 3pm at Building 19B in Nolan Park on Governors Island.

Daughters of Troy uses classical text, visual art, music, dance and current events to deconstruct female archetypes through the lens of the Trojan War. ??The project is a collaboration between theatre and visual artists led by Aubrey Saverino in partnership with international art organization, RE:ARTISTE.

The idea for Daughters of Troy originated with Saverino's short play Dido & Aeneas, which was adapted from The Aeneid and selected from over 300 submissions for Red Bull Theater's 2015 Short New Play Festival. Saverino expanded the project by inviting artists to create several short theatrical pieces -- each focused on a different female character from the Trojan War including Andromache, Clytemnestra, Oenone, Electra, Cassandra, Circe, Penthesilea and Helen of Troy. The finished project will be a kaleidoscope of stories and art inspired by these compelling women that stand on their own and in relationship to each other.

"We could write a traditional, two-hour play featuring all the women of Troy, but I wanted to intentionally fracture the stories in hopes that the diversity of voices and artistic mediums would create a richer dialogue," said Saverino. "Originally, it began as a group of theatre artists creating together," she added, "but we are thrilled that the project will now include visual artists, through our recent partnership with RE:ARTISTE."

RE:ARTISTE is an international art organization headed by Natalie Burlutskaya. "I don't believe art should exist for the sake of art," she said. "It should do something, address social issues, help us see the world differently." Visual artists will be participating in a variety of ways. They will exhibit art that explores the themes of the project, create props and set dressings for the theatre pieces, and in one case, join with a theatre artist to devise art live during performance.

Brooke M. Haney is writing a piece about Oenone, the first wife of Paris, and was the first to seek a visual artist for this project. "I'd worked with RE:ARTISTE on a different piece last summer," Haney said, "and the collision of visual art and theatre really resonated with me. So, I wanted to go further this time and have an artist creating live during the play."

Michael Nicholas is one of the three artists who will be creating live with Haney and is also displaying some of his work in the exhibition. He is designing an installation titled "Penelope's Room" that will include cloth, fabric, painting in invisible ink, lighting, and soundscape, all aimed at examining Penelope's story.

"I'm so excited to see all these artistic mediums come together in this historic house on Governors Island," concluded Saverino. "The passion and enthusiasm that each artist brings to this project exceeds my hopes and expectations."

Daughters of Troy will feature free presentations of the theatrical work-in-progress along with an exhibition of artwork inspired by the women of the Trojan War on Saturday, Sept. 3 & Sunday, Sept. 4 at 12pm, 1pm & 3pm at Building 19B in Nolan Park on Governors Island.

For more about the production, visit www.daughtersoftroyproject.com.

DAUGHTERS OF TROY

CREATIVE TEAM

Aubrey Saverino, Project Creator

Natalie Burlutskaya, Art Curator

Brooke M. Haney, Associate Artistic Producer

THEATRE MAKERS & ROLES

Erin Adams....Electra

Charlotte Bydwell....Penthesilea

Vivia Font....Iphigenia

Brooke M. Haney....Oenone

Rachael Jenison....Clytemnestra

Hailey Moran....Helen of Troy

Deb Radloff....Cassandra

Stephanie Roetzel....Circe

Aubrey Saverino....Dido

VISUAL ARTISTS

Hadieh Afshani

Kate Goltseva

Michael Nicholas

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Aubrey Saverino (Project Creator): Aubrey Saverino is a New York based actor, writer, producer and graduate of The Old Globe/USD Professional Acting Training Program where she received her MFA in Theatre. In addition to her graduate training, Aubrey received a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre from Occidental College and has also studied abroad at The London Dramatic Academy. As an actor Aubrey has performed in critically acclaimed classical, contemporary and world premiere productions Off-Broadway and around the country. Her writing credits include "Dido & Aeneas" (selected for Red Bull Theatre's 2015 Short Play Festival, published in 2016) and the pilot "Monogamish" (selected for IFP's 2015 Film Week at Lincoln Center). She is producer/co-creator of the award winning series "The Digressions". More info at www.aubreysaverino.com.

Natalie Burlutskaya (Art Curator): Natalie Burlutskaya co-founded RE:ARTISTE International Art Organization in 2012 as an artist representation firm with the goal to help artists with business aspects of their careers. Since then, the company grew into a live and online art events platform. Several solo and group shows were produced by RE:ARTISTE, including collaborations with performance artists and theater teams ("Bubbles of Hope" at DUMBO Arts Festival in 2013, "Kiss Me or Cut Off My Head" in 2015). International Juried Art Competition "Show Your World" in 2015 gathered entries from 43 countries. The exhibition "Show Your World" became a big art and social event resulting in new collaborative international art projects. Along with that, RE:ARTISTE provides art and business related workshops for creative of all occupations, including amateur and professional artists alike. Find out more about RE:ARTISTE, its artists and curators on the RE:ARTISTE website.

Theatre Makers (combined bio): Work has been seen Internationally, Off-Broadway and regionally in readings and workshops and full productions. Selected theatres include: Actor's Shakespeare Project, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Classic Stage Company, Epic Theatre Ensemble, The Flea, Huntington Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, National Black Theatre of Harlem, New Rep, The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Repertory Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, San Diego Rep, The Vineyard Theatre, and Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Visual Artists (combined bio): All featured artists have an extensive travel and relocation experience, they absorbed and now translate multicultural vision through their work. Their artwork has been shown at various solo and group exhibitions and purchased for private collections.

Free space for artists to make and show vital work. Over the course of 9 weeks this summer, Barton Booth has invited a wide range of artists to develop original work in a 150-year old house in Nolan Park on Governors Island. These artists will work on the island from Monday through Friday, developing original work through discovery and collaboration. On Saturday and Sunday, these groups will present their works-in-progress to the public in three showings each day (12pm, 1pm, & 3pm).

Our goal is to provide space for directors and creators to explore and practice their craft, and just need a room and an audience to try out their work. This residency emphasizes devising, choreographic and physical storytelling, text development with actors, staging rehearsals, crafting theatrical moments, and more. For more information, visit bartonbooth.com/makeroom.

RE:ARTISTE is an international art organization exposing amateur and professional artists to curators, buyers, art enthusiasts. For more information, go to www.reartiste.com.