Created by
Stuart Bogie, Renée Jaworski and Matt Kent based on original material developed with Nathaniel Buchsbaum, Krystal Butler, Isabella Diaz, Heather Favretto, Casey Howes, Teo Spencer and Jacob Michael Warren and created in collaboration with Connor Chaparro, Quincy Ellis, Marlon Feliz, Hannah Klinkman, Sean Langford, Derion Loman, and Zack Weiss
Music Composition: Stuart Bogie
Performance Dramaturg: Aaron Posner
Lighting Design: Thom Weaver
Costume Design: Valerie St Pierre Smith
Prop Design: Yannick Godts
Tales From the Underworld was created with support from The O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation. Additional funding from The Ballet Foundation and Hudson Bay Capital.
ABOUT TALES FROM THE UNDERWORLD
Tales from the Underworld explores the delicate balance between love and loss. Inspired by the tragic love story of Eurydice and Orpheus, this Pilobolean take on the story ballet considers the rapture of love and how it can lure us into a trance-like descent into the fragile rawness of the human connection. With an evocative yet cerebral score by Stuart Bogie and unique lighting by Thom Weaver that creates two distinct worlds, Tales from the Underworld embodies the universal journey of life’s cycles and a renewed sense of responsibility for our shared human experience with a blend of horror, humor, and revelation.
COLLABORATOR INFORMATION
Aaron Posner, Performance Dramaturg
Aaron Posner is a theatre director, playwright, teacher, former Artistic Director of two major regional theaters, and a tenured Professor at American University. He was the founding Artistic Director of Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre Company, and also ran Two River Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. He has directed nearly 200 productions at major regional theaters across the country, including Arena Stage, American Players Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, The Folger, Ford’s Theatre, Round House, Signature Theatre, South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre, and many more. As a playwright, his re-imaging of Chekhov’s The Seagull, entitled Stupid Fucking Bird, was one of the ten most produced plays in the country in 2015 and has had more than 250 productions worldwide including productions in Australia, Canada, England, Luxembourg, Romania, and Sweden. He has won 20 regional theater awards, including Helen Hayes Awards, Barrymore Awards, The Outer Circle Critics Award, and the John Gassner Prize.
Stuart Bogie, Composer
Composer and performer Stuart Bogie has written for film, television, commercials, and the stage. He has released 12 albums as leader. He composed the score for the Oscar-nominated documentary How To Survive a Plague, featuring performances by the Kronos Quartet. In 2022 Bogie released The Prophets in the City, an album of music composed for Brass and Percussion, featuring the drumming of Joe Russo. Bogie led the collaborative group Superhuman Happiness (2008-2018) through 5 original music albums over 10 years. As a member of the group Antibalas (2001-2012), Bogie wrote the piece “Indictment,” which The Village Voice called “…a fantastic Bush-era protest song, lithe and lethal” as well as the piece “Beaten Metal” which Pitchfork named a top 100 song of 2007 and noted “quick splashes of colorful sound and some slowly building drama, ‘Beaten Metal’ sounds brazen, rhythmic, and powerful - like Edgar Varese coming of age after hip-hop.”
Image by Ben McKeown