THE HOUSE OF ATREUS to Kick Off Brave New World Repertory Theatre 2022-23 Season

Brave New World Repertory Theatre will kick off its 2022-23 season with The House of Atreus, four FREE site-specific outdoor matinees of a new work-in-progress, written and directed by Alex Dmitriev.

The staged readings will be presented on September 11 and 25 at 12:00pm and 3:00pm at the Prospect Park's Grecian Shelter (designed by Stanford White), located at 95 Prospect Park West, between Park Circle and Ocean Avenue. The monologues will be presented without amplification; the venue's vaulted Gustavino tiled ceiling provides its own wonderful acoustics.

"The House of Atreus is a fresh, wry, digestible adaptation of the Greek myths, a series of lively monologues that actors will present from within the stunning colonnade that features 28 marble columns," says BNW's producing artistic director Claire Beckman. "This neo-classical pavilion is perfect for BNW's latest site-specific, modern spin on classic dramatic literature, and provides natural, outdoor social distancing." This staged reading is the first step to a full production scheduled for 2024.

During the pandemic, Dmitriev, BNW resident writer/director, re-read Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, The Iliad, and The Odyssey and was struck by the detailed universe of ancient Greek mythology, its place in recorded history, and relevance to today's events.

As he began to write monologues, he noted that while the gods' whims shaped the fate of their characters, he says "however we might protest, we are these same people. Every day, the news chronicles another Medea... another Hecuba. As I was told once when visiting Greece, 'There is nothing new under the sun.' I guess that must include greed, avarice, lust, revenge and murder."

Adds Beckman, "The ritualistic ensemble work in Greek Theatre is thrilling to experience and director Alex Dmitriev is bringing a wonderful modern anachronistic spin to it. These ancient stories go far to explain the chaos on earth; they are the primal soap operas we need right now. And great gory fun!"

Dmitriev has a history with BNW. He directed the company's acclaimed production of A View From The Bridge on The Waterfront Barge Museum in Red Hook in 2018 and 2019.

BNW is enormously excited to be developing Alex's play at The Grecian Shelter in Prospect Park, Beckman says. "We're grateful to the Prospect Park Alliance for their cooperation. I've been eyeing this special venue for over a decade."

Original Illustration by Taylor Morgan.

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