ARTicles vol. 7 i.2a: Welcome

Dear Friends,

This edition of ARTicles highlights two productions – the world premiere of The Communist Dracula Pageant at Zero Arrow Theatre, and the glorious magic and illusion of Aurélia’s Oratorio, which reaches the Loeb Stage just in time for the holidays. Both offer evenings of great fantasy and theatricality, and both are helmed by prodigiously talented young women artists – Aurélia Thierrée, the virtuosic performer of Aurélia’s Oratorio, and our two “Annes,” Anne Washburn and Anne Kauffman, the playwright/director team of The Communist Dracula Pageant. I’m so happy to introduce their work to you.

To my mind, Anne Washburn is one of the most exciting new voices in the American theatre. Her plays are feasts of imagination, with vivid characters, storylines that veer off in surprising directions, a wry sense of comedy, and a playful love of language. The Communist Dracula Pageant is a spectacular example. This romp across Romanian myth and history exists in three time periods: 1989, when the Ceausescus’ dictatorship fell; 1976, when the dictators, at the height of their powers, commissioned kitschy pageants to celebrate the glory of the Romanian nation; and the fifteenth century, during the reign of Vlad Tepes, the historical Count Dracula.

The play’s full title is The Communist Dracula Pageant, by Americans, for Americans, with hallucinations, phosphorescence, and bears. It reminds us that although Anne has set it during the insanity of the Romanian dictatorship, the play really transcends national boundaries. Its theme – the shaping of historical events and current affairs for political gain – is universal, and will have particular resonance for us during our own election season. I hope you’ll share my pleasure in this bold and lively new play from one of our most highly lauded young playwrights.

I first saw Aurélia Thierrée on stage when I was a child in London. She was performing with her parents and brother in the unforgettable Cirque Imaginaire, the genre-busting “new circus” that has played several times at the A.R.T. and continues to tour the world today. My first memory of Aurélia was as the smallest member of a family of suitcases that waltzed across the stage. Now she has graduated with a show of her own – a dreamlike combination of magic, puppetry, circus, vaudeville, and acrobatics that is every bit as breathtaking and mind-bending as her parents’ legendary performances.

Best wishes,
Gideon Lester
Director, 08/09 Season