Photo/ Foto: Marlène Ramírez-Cancio

YokastaS

YokastaS, a play written by Staviana Stanescu and Richard Schechner and directed by Schechner explores the central figure of Yokasta--Oedipus's Queen-Mother-Wife by presenting theatregoers with four Yokastas, each representing distinct parts of her life and different approaches to her experiences. Audiences see Yokasta as a pre-teen, a young woman, a happily married woman, and an older woman who intelligently recollects all aspects of her life.

Authors: Saviana Stanescu & Richard Schechner
Director: Richard Schechner
Lights: E.D. Intemann.
Costumes: Oana
Set: the company
Musical direction: Meg Leary
Dramaturg: Kilbane Porter
Assistant stage manager: Elizabeth Pink
Players: Yokasta: Tracey Huffman; Yoko: Suzi Takahashi; Yoyo: Kilbane Porter; Yono: Rachel Bowditch; Media, Laius, Oedipus: Chris Healy; Opera Singer: Meg Leary
Publicity: Theresa Smalec
Managing director: Jeremy Allen Thompson
Anthropologist-observer: Regina Müller

Biography

East Coast Artists is a professional theatre company performing new plays and classics in new interpretations. ECA also conducts training workshops. Founded in 1991 by Richard Schechner, ECA has produced Faust/gastronome, Amerika (after Kafka), Chekhov's Three Sisters, and YokastaS. The first is combines original writing by Schechner with texts of Marlowe and Goethe (performed in German and English) with elements of Gounod's Faust. Amerika is Maria Vail's adaptation of Kafka's. Three Sisters is a brand new translation by ECA member Michelle Minnick. YokastaS is co-authored by Schechner and Saviana Stanescu. ECA emphasizes a long developmental workshop and rehearsal process, open rehearsals, and continuous revision throughout the life of a production. The goal of ECA is to tell stories in an emotionally full and intellectually challenging way; to engage the historical and political forces operating in our epoch; to serve as a model of humanistic, small-scale interaction and social process; to train young and developing artists; and to entertain and, in the broadest sense, educate audiences.

Richard Schechner, Artistic Director and Founder
Jeremy Thompson, Managing Director
Michelle Minnick, Head of Training
Saviana Stanescu, Resident Playwright

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