Theatre outreach program rewrites the classics

CU Boulder students perform the Odyssey Remixed as part of an outreach tour. Photo by Ellen Reynerson

CU Boulder students perform the Odyssey Remixed as part of an outreach tour. Photo by Ellen Reynerson

March 22, 2017 • By Sue Postema Scheeres

Many of us may recall The Odyssey from high school English class, but a new CU Boulder Department of Theatre & Dance production is recasting this ancient text in a modern light.

Odyssey Remixed, which swaps genders to highlight the gender inequity in the original story, is being performed as part of an outreach program this semester that brings live theatre to schools and community centers across the Front Range and beyond.

“As a theatre artist, I am interested in exploring how theatre can be used as a tool for communication, engagement and education,” said Sarah Johnson, the play’s director and a doctoral student in theatre. “I hope to create theatre that develops empathy and understanding among both audience and performers.”

The Odyssey, a Greek epic poem by Homer, is about the Greek hero Odysseus who is trying to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, where Penelope, his wife, is fighting off suitors who assume the war hero is dead.

The interdepartmental cast includes Adam Lauver, a doctoral student in communications, Kelsey Kinzer, a master’s student in theatre and business, and Danielle Garrison, who is getting her master’s in fine arts in dance. Together with Johnson, they investigated the classic text, read various adaptations and improvised to develop the play. In this production, the actors argue with each other during the performance about swapping gender roles and who should play which part, which breaks down the wall between performers and audience.

Johnson said that audiences have responded well to this adaptation and to workshops after the show that explore acting and movement and show how these skills apply to all areas of learning.

“They love it! We get lots of giggles throughout the show. The students really respond to the workshops as well,” Johnson said. “We have learned that the students are capable of having very sophisticated conversations about gender that we bring up by flipping the genders of the characters.”

The theatre outreach tour started in 2008 and is supported through a CU Boulder Outreach Award, which fund projects that connect faculty-led research, teaching and creative work with public needs and interests across the state. Nearly 13,000 K-12 students and community members have been served since 2008, said Peg Posnick, outreach coordinator for the theatre and dance department.

Markas Henry, associate professor and director of theatre, said that many CU Boulder students want to become teaching artists, and the theatre tour provides an ideal opportunity to extend their passion for theatre to communities across the state. Each year the program adapts a different classic work, a process that helps the performer and the audience develop a deeper understanding of the text’s meaning.

“This work is vital to creating well-rounded future theatre patrons, and it helps to open up possibilities for the student audiences that they never imagined in this format,” Henry said. “Live theatre is a gift to experience because it is live. It only exists in one particular moment with the students. They do not get to push pause or replay. They have to be in the moment and engaged.”