Theatre UAB students perform in Bulgaria

Hannah Webber, Staff Writer
Published On: 06/ 9/2009

Six Theatre UAB theatre students performed an original play in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 18 as part of UAB’s new experimental theatre class.

The students in the performance were Emilie Soffe, Dustin Cañez, Stephen Webb, Chuckie Fuoco, Sarah Hereford and Timothy Craig. They were joined by Kristina Howard, who was on the trip mainly to research clothing traditions of the ancient Greeks and Thracians, and Julie Gafnea, who went on the trip to study theatre history.

Professors Karla Koskinen and Vessela Warner were also on the trip. Koskinen, associate professor of theatre, is the director of the Experimental Company. Warner, assistant professor of theatre and originally from Bulgaria, planned the trip.

The group performed the original play, "Orpheus: An Experimental Myth," at @lma @lter Theatre at Sofia University.
According to Soffe, “It was a piece that was created by all of us, with some text that was borrowed from poetry and song lyrics. It was about 30 minutes long and was comprised of several different pieces which we wove together to create one show.”

“Within the one piece there were actually eight smaller sections which were connected by transitions,” she said. “We focused mainly on three different aspects of the myth that we found interesting: Love, Loss, and Memory, and the pieces each commented on one of those themes.”

Gafnea wants to make sure that the main purpose of the trip is not lost. “My experiences of ancient Greece, philosophically, were more rewarding than my experiences theatrically. I walked in the same agora that Socrates did his philosophizing. I saw the sybil rock at Delphi where the oracle gave her prophacies.” she said.

“In short, I was there for the historical rewards of the class. I was not involved with the experimental class. I'm happy that the experimental class had a great experience. I do wish, however, that it wouldn't outshine the magnificent history that was laid in our hands.”

Howard says that the group spent two weeks in May traveling through Bulgaria and Greece and that they visited several historic sites throughout Bulgaria and Greece. Among the highlights, according to Howard, were, “Peperikon, the ancient Thracian palace and temple; the Devil's Throat cave, which is said to be where Orpheus entered the Underworld; Orpheus' supposed burial place; the Acropolis, which contains the Parthenon; the ancient temples at Delphi.”

They also visited Ancient Mycenae, which Howard explains was the home of Agamemnon, who by myth was Helen of Troy's brother-in-law and a main character in the Iliad. Other tour stops included the Greek island of Aegina, and the respective theatres of Dionysus, Plovdiv, Epidaurus, and Delphi.

Soffe notes that the students compared and contrasted modern day theatre acoustics and those of the ancient Greek theatres they visited. “It was sad for us to realize that theirs were, for the most part, much better,” she said.

The results of the students’ research and time in Bulgaria and Greece can be seen in their production of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice this fall. Information about that production can be found at http://theatre.hum.uab.edu/shows/09-10/eurydice.htm.

Email: hwebber@uab.edu