Results tagged “ladidone”

Toward the end of La Didone, the latest multidisciplinary mash-up from the indefatigable Wooster Group, one vampire alien says to a captive astronaut, "Just let one of us join you. It will give you this wonderful new complexity." The line's an obvious metaphor for director Elizabeth LeCompte's conceit, a juxtaposition of the 17th century Italian opera Didone with kitschy 1965 sci-fi horror flick Planet of the Vampires. Yet, just as the alien's promise of "wonderful new complexity" is merely a ruse to latch onto another host body, LeCompte's spectacle feels like an elaborately empty shell, seeking a spirit to animate it. La Didone is more fussy than complex, and "wonder" isn't exactly what it's full of.

The Wooster Group’s production of Hamlet is making its hotly anticipated state-side debut at St. Ann’s Warehouse, following performances in Paris, Barcelona and Berlin. The company has previously tossed Chekhov, O’Neill, and Miller into their deconstructive blender; this is their first Shakespearean scramble.