Cutting Ball Theater Presents Euripides' HELEN 4/21

San Francisco's cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater presents the third installation in this season's Hidden Classics Reading Series, Euripides' HELEN. Many people know about Helen of Troy - abducted by the Trojans, she became the face that launched a thousand ships when her husband and countrymen fought to get her back. But according to Euripides, it may all have been a lie. Danielle O'Hare, last seen at Cutting Ball in 2004's Avant GardARAMA! production of Helen of Troy, reprises her role as the beautiful Helen.

Euripides was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles). Ancient scholars credit him with having written 95 plays; 18 of those plays have survived in tact. Euripides is known primarily for having reshaped the formal structure of traditional tragedy by showing strong women characters and intelligent slaves, and by satirizing many heroes of Greek mythology. His plays were deemed almost too "modern" by comparison with those of his contemporaries, as they focused on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown to Greek audiences. Euripides focused on the realism of his characters; according to Aristotle, Euripides's contemporary Sophocles said that he portrayed men as they ought to be, and Euripides portrayed them as they were. Euripides' greatest works for the stage include Alcestis, Medea, Electra, and The Bacchae.

Co-founded in 1999 by husband and wife team Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. The company has produced a number of World Premieres and West Coast Premieres, and re-imagined various classics. Cutting Ball Theater earned the Best of SF Award in 2006 for Theater from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco Magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007.

Tuesday, April 21, 7pm

The Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor
277 Taylor St., San Francisco

Free and open to the public. For more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call
800-838-3006

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