Sitting Shotgun Presents IN THE TENT OF THE KING

The final production in Sitting Shotgun's inaugural season, In the Tent of the King, is a classically structured Greek play written, conceptualized, and created from a contemporary point of view. The play highlights the divide between the Trojan civilians and the Greek army in the wake of the Trojan War, questioning the equity of being human in a post-war setting, asking the essential question, "Can a good person do evil things?"

Written by first-time playwright Josh Call, In the Tent of the King has developed over nearly a three year period. "When I sat down to write In the Tent of the King, I was tremendously excited to be telling an original story that honored the form and function of the Greek pantheon. By sticking as rigidly as I could to the source material, in constraining myself with respect to language and story, I was given an opportunity to explore a side of these three-thousand-year old characters that I never read about during my furtive, flashlit study sessions under the covers as a kid." After a staged reading in 2014, Call continued to pursue the progress of the play, ultimately presenting it as his senior thesis project at Pace School of Performing Arts and culminating in this performance.

The play is written in a style that is caught somewhere between prose and metered verse, creating a lush, poetic realm somewhere between real life and a dream. Movement director Fernando Moya Delgado utilizes his viewpoint-based physical theatre experience and classical dance training to generate compelling movement sequences, illustrating the storytelling inherent in the text. "The dialogue of the characters causes an immediate physical reaction for me; the text is rich and full of vivid imagery which gave us a lot of amazing material to work with." Generating movement in a devised ensemble setting, Delgado sought to use the cast's own impulses and physicality to inform 'how the text translates to movement and how we could use that as a storytelling device to support the play and its characters.'

Director Allie Marotta focuses on the division of the Trojan and Greek characters, juxtaposing people of color and white communities to the characters in the play, using this as an opportunity to foster a conversation about racial tensions in America. "Stylistically, we didn't feel the need to impose this conceptual layer in a physical manifestation, you won't see anything additional to the world to express this like projections of Trump and BLM movements, rather we chose to let the text speak for itself. The resonance is wild and so palpable throughout the piece." The careful casting of Trojans as actors of color, and Greeks as white actors achieves this aim, allowing the audience to apply their own bias and interpretation to the play. Associate director Joe Reault fortifies this through his dramaturgical work throughout the process, "In the Tent of the King has provided us the opportunity to examine the intersections of race and class in a volatile post-war society. While our story is based on the age-old myths of the Trojan War, these themes are hyper-relevant in today's political climate and we are thrilled to work with a script and playwright that allows us to make topical work through a historic, theatrical lens."

Casting for this production includes Naomi Bagate (Child U/S), Fernando Moya Delgado (Chorus), Alexa Kent (Woman), Alec Kirazian (Attendant/Old Man), Tom Lewis (Agamemnon), Nathan Luce (Ajax), Jackie Meissner (Woman in Red), Stephanie Orta-Vàzquez (Child), Cassy Pogensky (Cassandra), Kelsey Senteio (Chorus).

The creative team includes Allie Marotta (Director), Joe Reault (Associate Director), Ricardo Delgado (Asst. Director), Steven Medina (Set/Prop Design), David Bull (Light Design), Olivia Vordenberg (Music/Sound Design), Sammy Mainzer (Costume Design), Linnea Sumner (Hair/Makeup Design, Asst. Costume Design), Lauren Rinn (Injury/FX Design), Leana Gardella (Fight Choreography), Fernando Moya Delgado (Movement Director), and Nick Mayfield (Media/Graphic Design).

In The Tent of the King is produced by Sitting Shotgun, a theatre Production Company that aims to foster a diverse community of emerging artists, prioritizing equitable and intersectional theatre-making. We intend to make space for artists to collaborate, create, share their practice, and expand their network. Comprised of Joe Reault (Artistic Director), Allie Marotta (Executive Director), Nick Mayfield (Media Director), and Fernando Moya Delgado (Producing Director), Sitting Shotgun seeks to fill a void in the emerging artist community, providing support and affordable opportunities for artists to pursue their craft and produce new work. www.facebook.com/SittingShotgun | @sittingshotgunco

In the Tent of The King opens this weekend at The Hive (20 Cook Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206) for a limited run. Performances are April 20th at 8pm, April 21st & 22nd at 2pm and 8pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at http://inthetentoftheking.bpt.me/ or at the door; purchasing tickets ahead of time is recommended as seating is limited.

To post a comment, you must register and login.