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Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: 方
Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: 方
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Author: Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho) Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press Format: Softcover # of Pages: 248 Pub. Date: 2022 ISBN-10: 0369103025 ISBN-13: 9780369103024
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About
the Play:
Finalist for the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for drama (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize)
The volume Iphigenia
and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: 方
contains two full-length dramas by Jeff Ho
under the playwright's Chinese name Ho Ka Kei. These
two adaptations transport mythological stories from Ancient Greece to
modern-day civilizations. Led by people of colour, these darkly
comedic plays depict recognizable plights for justice.
Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) highlights the
repetition of hate and colonialism that occur in ancient myths
through a mischievous lens. Since Iphigenia was rescued from the
sacrificial altar, she has served as a high priestess to the goddess
Artemis on Tauros, where she in turn is to sacrifice any foreigners
who try to enter. When she discovers that an exiled prisoner is her
brother, they together plot their escape, but are soon confronted by
a force beyond their control. (Premiered in 2019 at Aki Studio in
Toronto; Cast: 2 female, 2 male.)
What people say:
"The comic timing is flawless;
some of the contemporary one-liners could feel glib in less skilled
hands, but here they zing. The characters are all emotionally
credible, while still bemused by the way the gods have screwed up
their lives." — The Globe and Mail
Antigone: 方 (the title includes a Chinese character that stands for "square") is
set against the backdrop of the 2014 Umbrella Movement student
protests in Hong Kong and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre
protests. When citizens challenge a state's traditional doctrine, the
ruling family is divided between their own interests and those of its
citizens. After brothers Neikes and Teo kill each other in the
protests, their sister Antigone defies her father's orders to
retrieve Neikes's body, causing the government – and what's left of
their family – to reach a reckoning. (Premiered in 2019 by Young
People's Theatre in Toronto; Cast: 3 female, 5 male. Antigone and
Kreon and Ismene must be Chinese. The cast must be a majority
racialized group.)
What people say:
"His adaptation of Sophocles'
Antigone both relocates this Greek story to reflect Ho's Chinese
heritage and directly challenges the narratives that its audience of
12- to 18-year-olds may be hearing in their classrooms right now,
while empowering them to do something to change it." —
Toronto Star
About the Playwright:
Jeff Ho is a Hong Kong born Canadian actor and playwright
based in Toronto. He writes using his Chinese name, Ho Ka Kei. He has held residencies with the Stratford
Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Nightswimming, Cahoots, the Banff
Playwrights Lab, and Factory Theatre. He is a graduate of the acting program Montreal's
prestigious National Theatre School (Canada's Julliard).
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