BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!)By Jami Brandli
Directed By Anna C Bahow PROMETHEAN THEATRE ENEMBLE A Joint World Premiere with Moving Arts at Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles and in Association with Moxie Theatre in San DiegoIt’s 1960 in North Orange, NJ. Clytemnestra and Medea are now discontented housewives, and Antigone is the teenage girl next door struggling with the rules of her overbearing uncle. On the surface, they’re seemingly blissful to follow the “rules” of Emily Post, the American author famous for writing on etiquette. But that’s just the surface. Then Cassandra, a working girl, moves into their neighborhood and all routines are interrupted. Cassandra is determined to finally break the curse of Apollo, the gorgeous and egotistical god who gave her this “gift” of prophecy but made it so no one would ever believe her. He makes it clear his curse is practically indestructible: yet all she must do is convince someone to believe her. Can Cassandra convince them they now have a choice in this modern era? That they don’t have to live a doomed existence? Can all four women escape their ongoing fate? |
"deftly paints the three tragic figures with enough comic playfulness that we are invited to laugh as they go through the reiterated motions of their own damnation: a wonderful narrative trick that works because of excellent writing and even better performances from a stellar cast under the strong direction of Anna Bahow." Highly Recommended
– Karen Topham, ChicagoOnStage.com "BLISS (Or Emily Post is Dead!) is uncomfortable, humorous, and incisive in all the right ways. Especially when it comes to race and gender, it makes it very clear that between Ancient Greece, Mid Century New Jersey, and America today that not as much has changed as we might hope." Critics' Picks – Bec Willett, PerformInk "Somewhat circumscribed by Emily Post’s rules of etiquette, the wrongs of these 'nasty women' get reenacted, this time in poodle dresses and with poison crumpets. Very pointedly, they anticipate the inequities of #Me Too, #BlackLivesMatter, and #Never Again." – Lawrence Bommer, StageandCinema.com "Director Anna Bahow keeps her strong cast charging forward . . . finding impressive nuance along the way." – Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader |
Production StaffDirector: Anna Bahow
Playwright: Jami Brandli
Stage Manager: Alexa Berkowitz*
Assistant Director/Dramaturg: Nicole Hand*
Set Designer: Jeremiah Barr*
Violence Designer: Brendan Hutt*
Costume Designer: Carrie Campana
Lighting Designer: Charles Blunt
Sound Designer: Sadie Tremblay
Props Designer: Rachel Watson
Intimacy Designer: Jennifer L. Mickelson
Photography: Tom McGrath**
*Indicates PTE Ensemble Member
Playwright: Jami Brandli
Stage Manager: Alexa Berkowitz*
Assistant Director/Dramaturg: Nicole Hand*
Set Designer: Jeremiah Barr*
Violence Designer: Brendan Hutt*
Costume Designer: Carrie Campana
Lighting Designer: Charles Blunt
Sound Designer: Sadie Tremblay
Props Designer: Rachel Watson
Intimacy Designer: Jennifer L. Mickelson
Photography: Tom McGrath**
*Indicates PTE Ensemble Member
CAST
Jamie Bragg*
Alice Wu
Kaci Antkiewicz
Jared Dennis*
Dyamone Hopkins
*Indicates PTE Ensemble Member