Sometimes, with a little reworking, classic tales can have relevance to modern political situations. This is the common theme reappearing in the University Theatre Department’s Second Season productions.
Meant as an outlet for small-cast productions and experimental plays, Second Season productions are performed in the “black box” Arena Theatre in Villard Hall. Fall term’s production of “Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief” was a feminist reworking of a Shakespeare’s “Othello.” This term’s production has a similar take on a different kind of tale.
A new take of the Greek myth of the Minotaur, “A Thread in the Dark” by Hella Haase, also changes the perspective from a male to a female lead, but with a different purpose in mind.
“In this working, the Minotaur represents those secret fears that people have and that politicians exploit,” director Elizabeth Helman said. “It really makes it relevant to today’s political situation.”
Helman has directed a number of productions for the theater department, such as “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” as well as productions for children through the Mad Duckling Theatre. She decided to put on “Thread” after reading it in a Western European theater class.
“It’s an obscure Dutch play that was first performed in Holland in 1962,” Helman said. “I think this will only be its first or second performance in the United States.”
Cast members were also interested with the subtext of the play and the possibilities for political commentary that it holds.
“I think it’s great to come at a classical Greek story from a such different perspective,” actor and University senior Eli Levine said.
“It’s interesting to show a take on a famous myth in a way that makes it still relevant to today’s politics,” actress and first-year graduate student Connie Hymer said. “This play deals with how governments use fear as a way to control, how they create an enemy to keep people subservient.”
The original myth told the story of a half-man, half-bull called the Minotaur that was kept in an inescapable maze called the Labyrinth on the island of Crete. The hero Theseus
entered the maze and killed the creature and was able to find his way out using a ball of thread given to him by Ariadne, daughter of the king of Crete. In Haase’s retelling of the myth, Ariadne is the central character. Her decision to expose the truth about the Minotaur, which her father uses to keep his subjects frightened, has become the central source of drama.
“I love the way all the classical structures and archetypes are used to this end,” Helman said. “I was also drawn to the strong female protagonist. The character of Ariadne becomes a form of political activist. The play also raises many interesting question, such as what is the relevance art has to politics.”
Working with a play which much of the audience will not be familiar with also gives Second Season the freedom from any preconceived notions, Helman said. The black-box style of the Arena Theatre, where the seats rise above the sparsely decorated stage, also allows the seven-person cast to be close to the audience.
And over the course of the play’s six performances, the cast is looking forward to the challenges the production presents.
“A Thread in the Dark” will be playing Feb. 4-7 and Feb. 12-14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the EMU Ticket Office. Prices are $4 for students; $5 for seniors, faculty and staff; and $6 for the general public.