NYC treats

[ellenkushner]

Women Beware Women, Thomas Middleton's scrumptious Jacobean revenge tragedy, gets a delicious po-mo production at Red Bull Theatre (the ones who brought us Marlowe's Edward II last year) - we saw it with friends, everyone loved it, and now it's been extended to Jan. 18th, with a limited number of discount tix on TDF.org. Don't miss it - it's not like this sort of thing happens very often!

Also on TDF - but reasonably priced even without - is Tarantella: Spider Dance, by Alessandra Belloni and I Giullari di Piazza ("Southern Italian Folk Music, Ritual Dance & Theatre" - playing in NYC Jan 10-11. I like her stuff, used to play her albums on Sound & Spirit: music is that appealing (to me, anyway) blend of medieval/trad/world. Sounds like it will be quite a show - sorry I'll have to miss it! Her website says it's a one-of-a-kind presentation that invokes ancient traditions of the Winter and Summer Solstice, when people gathered in the woods to celebrate orgiastic rites in honor of Dionysus. Women danced with swords to the sounds of tambourines and violins in a frenzy driven by the myth of the spider. Originating in Greek rites of the Bacchantes, the tradition continued into the Middle Ages and Renaissance, when women involved were called Tarantate. By stomping their feet and spinning, the women symbolically expelled the poison of the mythical bite of the tarantula. There are music & video clips there.

Comments

[seanmoon.livejournal.com]

Delurk comment: Oh, wow, I'm definitely going to try and get tickets...I love Middleton, and I just made on a 17th century play a week new year's resolution (in addition to reading everything written by Aphra Behn this year). Totally right up my alley, thanks for posting about this.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

What a great resolution!!

Some friends came over on "erev" Twelfth Night and we all read THE ALCHEMIST aloud. It was a blast!

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

I saw it with a friend on perhaps one of the crappier weather nights of the year, but it was well worth the wet feet!

On a side note, (cue self-pimp) I'd like to invite you and Delia to come see a short play of mine which is being produced as part of a short play festival in February!

http://www.keagantheater.com/Productions.html

(Beware the music!)

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

omg, that is fantastic - congratulations!! sadly, o so sadly, we are going to be away that weekend - going to ucsc to give a reading . . . if things change, we'll try to make it, though. Go, you!