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Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: 方

Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) & Antigone: 方
Your Price: $20.95 CDN
Author: Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)
Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
Format: Softcover
# of Pages: 248
Pub. Date: 2022
ISBN-10: 0369103025
ISBN-13: 9780369103024

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: 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: (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).