{"id":100631,"date":"2015-02-27T08:44:12","date_gmt":"2015-02-27T13:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=100631"},"modified":"2015-03-09T15:25:34","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T19:25:34","slug":"crt-adaptation-of-lysistrata-introduces-mfa-acting-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2015\/02\/crt-adaptation-of-lysistrata-introduces-mfa-acting-class\/","title":{"rendered":"CRT Adaptation of \u2018Lysistrata\u2019 Introduces MFA Acting Class"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lysistrata<\/a>
Lysistrata in a new adaptation by Jen Wineman, onstage at Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Nafe Katter Theatre. (Photo courtesy of CRT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The anti-war slogan \u201cMake love, not war\u201d is usually associated with the 1960s counterculture and protests against the Vietnam War. But the theme can be traced back to the Greek comedy \u201cLysistrata,\u201d written by Aristophanes in 411 B.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cLysistrata\u201d is the tale of one woman\u2019s crusade to end the Peloponnesian War by encouraging women to withhold sex from their husbands until they stop fighting. The Connecticut Repertory Theatre\u2019s modern adaptation of the play set in the 1940s during World War II opens Feb. 27 and continues through March 8 in the Nafe Katter Theatre, 820 Bolton Road.<\/p>\n

The adaptation was written and directed by Jen Wineman, a director and choreographer who is co-founder and former board member of Studio 42, a New York-based theater company that focuses on producing new work by emerging artists. Her work has been seen in New York and in major regional theaters throughout the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I reviewed multiple versions of the script, I just couldn\u2019t find one that I loved,\u201d Wineman says. \u201cBy looking at multiple versions of the text, I was able to create a play that hopefully reflects the original story while bringing the humor and the setting into a context that we can all enjoy in 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

The adaptation provides an early opportunity to participate in a CRT production for the newest class in the MFA acting program who arrived in Storrs last fall. They will perform as part of a cast led by Equity actors Lisa Birnbaum, who has performed extensively Off Broadway and in film and television, and Blake Segal, who has performed on national tours and is a dialect coach and teacher.<\/p>\n

Michael Bobenhausen, Arlene Bozich and Adetinpo Thomas have immersed themselves in the first year of the full-time, three-year MFA program that includes several classes during the day, production rehearsals at night while also working in the CRT office to learn other aspects of the theater industry.<\/p>\n

\"(L<\/a>
(L to R) First year MFA acting students Arlene Bozich, Michael Bobenhausen, and Adetinpo Thomas make their debuts in CRT’s production of Lysistrata. (Photo courtesy of CRT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The three actors found their way to UConn through interviews and auditions conducted in major cities around the United States by the University Resident Theatre Association (URTA), which is the nation\u2019s oldest consortium of graduate professional theater training programs. More than 1,100 prospective graduate students for all aspects of theater \u2013 from acting and directing to stage management and theater technology — attend the URTA sessions.<\/p>\n

Dale AJ Rose, director of performance studies in the School of Fine Arts and associate artistic director of CRT, and Karen Ryker, professor of voice and acting, meet with prospective students at the URTA sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSitting and talking with Dale and Karen it was clear that this was the place that was going to allow me grow in the way that I needed and wanted,\u201d says Thomas, who did her undergraduate work in business and theater at the University of Georgia and worked before deciding to return to her studies. \u201cOne thing I appreciated that Dale did was he had his grad students call people he was interested in. Khetanya Henderson MFA \u201814 called me. Talking to her was great. It gave me a point of reference for someone coming from a similar background and who also was extremely professional and accomplished before she got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bozich, who graduated from Purdue with a double major in English and theater, says she was impressed by the emphasis she heard from Rose and Ryker on strengthening each student\u2019s skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only program that said: we\u2019re going to take the parts you\u2019re missing in your training and we\u2019re going to confront those so that when you do go into the professional world you don\u2019t have to do that,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was great to know the weakest part of my training would be strengthened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The early rehearsals for \u201cLysistrata\u201d have provided challenges for the young actors as they work with a new script for a story they realize many audiences will already know.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating this new piece set in the 40s and trying to make sense of some of these jokes that may seem tired but making it fresh for us as actors is a challenge,\u201d says Bobenhausen, who is from Danbury, Conn., and majored in English and theater at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. \u201cFor me the interesting thing is watching the exploration of the actors and the process so when you come in you have all these ingredients that have been played with. For however long you\u2019re on stage, you\u2019re seeing the world that\u2019s been shaped and learning how to add to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunity to work with professional actors like Birnbaum and Segal also provides a support system for the first-year graduate students as they try to manage their classes and rehearsal schedules.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you get thrown into it and you have class all day and rehearsal at night, but you still have your mom who wants to talk with you on the phone, or asking my little sister about her soccer game and forgetting it was two days ago, you become so encumbered with what\u2019s going on here,\u201d Thomas says. \u201cThe Equities are like big brothers and big sisters.\u201d
\nAt the same time, being able to focus full attention on their acting studies is a change from their recent past.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s strange having a singular focus. At Purdue, I ran around all the time. I made my own schedule; I was on auto-pilot,\u201d Bozich says. \u201cEverything is condensed in this [Dramatic Arts] building. I have time to focus. I have time to sink my teeth into things and not having to handle my schedule is really nice. The work is here for me and I\u2019m allowed to completely immerse myself in it. I really love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CRT production of \u201cLysistrata\u201d runs from Feb. 27 through March 8 at the Nafe Katter Theatre. Weeknight evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. with weekend evening performances at 8 p.m. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. For more information call 860-486-2113 or go to the CRT website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn MFA students are helping to give a fresh approach to an ancient Greek drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":100711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-100631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 05:19:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100631"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100714,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100631\/revisions\/100714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/100711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100631"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=100631"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=100631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}