One man. One hour. One epic... But which one...?
“Beowulf or Gilgamesh—You Decide!” at the Playhouse Oct 9 and 10
Key
City Public Theatre offers a mini-festival of ancient monster
stories as it presents visiting artist Charlie Bethel’s one-man
show “Beowulf or Gilgamesh — You Decide!” on Fri. Oct. 9 and Sat.
Oct. 10 at 8:00 p.m. at the Playhouse, 419 Washington Street in
Port Townsend.
Bethel has crafted each of the centuries-old epics “Beowulf” and
“Gilgamesh” into rich, entertaining one-hour presentations. On
Friday evening, the audience will vote for Bethel to perform one
of them, and on Saturday, Bethel will perform the other ancient
tale.
Rohan Preston of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote that Bethel
delivered “a compelling performance [in] a subtle and riveting
one-man show.” Other reviewers have called the shows
“breathtaking” and “as rip-roaring a good adventure as one can
imagine.”
“Beowulf,” is one of the oldest English poems, pre-dating
Shakespeare and Chaucer by centuries. It is the story of a man
who kills monsters, and a morality tale about fleeting time and
the destiny of death.
Even more mysterious is “Gilgamesh,” the oldest tale known to
humanity. Written in clay tablets five thousand years ago in a
now-extinct language, this tale contains our earliest evocations
of the Hero, the Flood, the Underworld, and even “the buddy
movie.”
“The themes of these tales are timeless, “says Bethel, “They
remind us of the impermanence of life, the certainty of
uncertainty, and the courage required to engage in the simple
act of living.”
Bethel,
a native southerner who comes from “a long line of talkers,” is
now an actor/writer based in New York City. He has performed in
dozens of theaters across the country, and began developing his
adaptation of “Beowulf” in the 1990’s. Bethel is visiting Port
Townsend and KCPT as guest instructor and director of its
upcoming “TeenLab” program, in which local teens will perform an
original theatre piece written by and about their generation on
Oct. 16-18.
TICKETS: Tickets for “Beowulf or Gilgamesh—You Decide!” are $15 for
adults and $10 for students. Note this event is not recommended
for children under the age of thirteen due to strong language
and adult themes.
Advance tickets are available by cash or check at Quimper Sound,
230 Taylor St., Port Townsend; or by calling KCPT at 379-0195
for credit card purchases.