Baryshnikov Arts Center

Baryshnikov Arts Center Presents

Phèdre les oiseaux (Phaedra the birds)

N.Y. Premiere
THIS PRESENTATION HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.

Text by Frédéric Boyer
English Translation by Cole Swensen
Directed by Jean-Baptiste Sastre
Dramaturgy by Ellen Hammer
Featuring Hiam Abbass and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine

Acclaimed actors Hiam Abbass and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine star in Phèdre les oiseaux (Phaedra the birds), a new theater work drawing from the tragic Greek figures Phaedra and Hippolytus. Going beyond a retelling of the classic story, Phèdre les oiseaux reimagines the tale of forbidden love, examining through a modern lens themes of morality, sexual intrigue, and betrayal that inhabit cultural myths.

Based on an original text that has been translated into several languages, this international theater project assembles its Greek chorus from each city where the work is presented. The production at BAC features community performers from the group Haïtian-Americans in Action.

Phèdre les oiseaux (Phaedra the birds) is performed primarily in English, with the Greek chorus performing in English, French, and Haïtian Creole. 

About
<em>Phèdre les oiseaux</em>

Phèdre les oiseaux

Phèdre les oiseaux (Phaedra the birds) is an international theater project developed to engage communities around the globe. Led by director Jean-Baptiste Sastre, with original text by playwright Frédéric Boyer, Phèdre les oiseaux draws from the poetic figures Phaedra and her stepson Hippolytus, with whom she falls in love. Going beyond a retelling of the classic story, Phèdre les oiseaux is set in a modern world, centering on a woman and man who bring to life the characters of the ancient Greek tragedy and their tale of forbidden love. Phaedra, a condemned woman, attempts to deliver herself from the persecution of history and the criminalization of her lust for Hippolytus. Her story of feminine antiquity becomes a modern story, examining through a contemporary lens themes of morality, sexual intrigue, and betrayal that inhabit cultural myths.

Phaedra is performed by actress Hiam Abbass, an acclaimed, multilingual performer best known for her roles in international films directed by Steven Spielberg, Thomas McCarthy, Julian Schnabel, Patrice Chéreau, among others. Phèdre les oiseaux, which will be performed at BAC in English, has been translated and developed to be performed in several languages. The versions in French, English, and Arabic feature Abbass in the title role.

As the production tours, the role of Hippolytus is cast from the country where it is performed. For the New York engagement, Abbass is joined by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine. The Los Angeles-based actor’s theater credits include productions at REDCAT, Lincoln Center, and his heralded one-man show Biro, which premiered at The Public Theater in 2004.

An integral component of Phèdre les oiseaux is a Greek chorus comprised of community members from the city where the work is performed. For the presentation at BAC, the chorus will comprise 30 multi-generational community members from the Brooklyn-based group Haïtian-Americans in Action, who will work with Sastre and Abbass during an intensive rehearsal period leading up to the premiere. The chorus’s singing and narration will be performed in English, French, and Haitian Creole.

Phèdre les oiseaux premiered March 2012 at the CDDB Théâtre de Lorient and has been performed throughout Europe in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, and recently had its U.S. Premiere in Los Angeles. Following the performances at BAC, Phèdre les oiseaux goes on to Marseille, France, and Tangier, Morocco, followed by a tour of Palestine and Israel.

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About
Hiam Abbass

Hiam Abbass

Hiam Abbass grew up in a village in northern Galilee in Israel. Though she first appeared on stage at age 9, she quickly turned to photography, which she studied in Haifa. She then joined the Palestinian theater company El-Hakawati, before working in a children’s theater. She made her screen debut in 1987 with Michel Khleifi’s Wedding in Galilee. 

After a brief passage in London, Abbass settled in France in the late 1980s, working for both the small and big screens. An FLN activist in Living in Paradise, she portrayed Gérard Depardieu’s spouse in A Loving Father (2002). She became well known for her role in Tunisian director Raja Amari’s Red Satin (2002). Polyglot Abbass advised Steven Spielberg on the shooting of Munich (2005), portrayed the mother of a suicide bomber in Paradise Now (2005) directed by Hany Abu-Assad, and played the role of the emancipated sister of The Syrian Bride (2004) directed by Eran Riklis, who later cast her as the obstinate heroine in Lemon Tree (2008). While working with the most famous filmmakers of the Middle East, from Yousry Nasrallah to Amos Gitai (Free Zone, 2005), the actress is also sought after in France. Directed by Patrice Chéreau and Jean Becker (Conversations with My Gardener, 2007), she also lent her voice to the animated film Azur and Asmar (2006). Abbass has worked with American film directors Jim Jarmusch (The Limits of Control, 2009) and Thomas McCarthy (The Visitor, 2007). The itinerant filmmaker Julian Schanbel entrusted her with the role of Hind Husseini, director of an orphanage for Palestinian children in Miral (2010). In 2012 she directed her first feature Inheritance, which premiered in Venice and was released in France last December.

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About
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine is a first generation Ugandan-American whose playwriting, acting, and directing credits include Biro, which held its U.S premiere at the Public Theatre. The play also premiered in Uganda, London, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Seattle, Zimbabwe, Los Angeles and Toronto. Ntare’s second play A Missionary Position, premiered at the REDCAT Theatre in Los Angeles. 

Other theater acting credits include leading roles at The Steppenwolf Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, American Jewish Theatre, Theatre for a New Audience, The Long Wharf Theatre, and Center Theatre Group. Television acting credits include HBO's "The Newsroom," a recurring role on "Treme," "Bones," "Heroes," "The Riches," and "CSI." Film acting credits include 40 and Blood Diamond. Film directing credits include the documentary “Beware of Time,” which won Best Film at the Black International Film Festival in Berlin. Ntare received his MFA in Acting from New York University and completed studies at The Moscow Arts Theatre in Russia, The Royal National Theatre in London and The University of Virginia.

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