The Persephone Project

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

The Persephone Project debuting at the Dairy Center in Boulder falls strongly into a “could-have-been” project. It-could-have-been an extremely powerful statement. It could-have-been an extraordinary ironclad knockout. It-could-have-been, but it isn’t.

The cast of The Persephone Project, which debuted at the Dairy Center in Boulder, Colorado and will travel to Tuscany, Italy later in June. Photo by Pam Traynor

Chasm View collaborated with CU Boulder for this monumental project, and was written and created by Mary-Laurence Bevington, Joan Bruemmer, Jessica Cerullo, Cathy Hartenstein, Jooyeon Kim, Anastasia Koumidou, Andrea Moon, Lisa Morse, Liz Stanton, Rebecca Stone Thornberry, and Pam Traynor.

Based on the ancient Greek Myth, Persephone delves into the story of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. By itself, as are all of the Greek myths, it is a strong story of separation, jealousy, rape, ownership, denial, fear, and destruction. The phrase “don’t mess with Mother Nature” takes on new meaning in the Greek tradition. When Hades, God of the Underworld, abducts Persephone and takes her to his Kingdom to be his Queen, Demeter goes wild with fear, heartbreak, and depression turning her wrath upon the earth creating famine and destruction.

Directed by Cathy Hartenstein and Gina Kaufmann, it is a mother-daughter story, a story of innocence turned inside out. It is a powerful story, written oh, so many years ago remaining as powerful today as when first written.

Through music composed by Stanton, choreography designed by Bruemmer, this production attempts to relive the myth aided and abetted by narration. The result is a watered down version of the story. Watered down because the music is weak, the choreography frequently painfully awkward for the ensemble that frequently share masks and change characters. The stage and story shared by Bevington, Bruemmer, Cerullo, Moon, Morse, Stanton, and Thornberry. Many of the actions, though may have meaning to those who have worked on this project, do not read beyond the boards. The narration manages to tell the audience what is going on, but the interaction of the actors does not clarify their position, their intent, and the emotion. There is deep emotion because the narration tells us there is, but the actors grasp the characters with tentative tentacles rather than embracing them to breathe life into them. Because of the narration there is too much tell me and not enough show me.

The all female cast poses another problem: the absence of the male counterpart. To have women actors speak for Hades and Zeus, no matter who they are, no matter how strong they are as actors, don’t cut the powerful mustard thrust required by Hades and Zeus. For the dichotomy to exist, for the power to emanate throughout the theatre, the stance, voice and strength demand male actors.

Costumes designed by Kim are appropriate, for the Greek tradition, although a cotton material would allow the one strap dresses a softer flow.

With the creative minds behind this project, there was definitely the expectation they would grab the myth by the horns giving it direction, power, and substantial meaning to the 21st Century. On the contrary, the result is a look that speaks toward hesitancy, uncertainty, and trepidation, like they just aren’t sure of what it is they are grappling for, which leaves one wondering why was this project chosen? Where is the passion? This myth is all about passion. The actors seem hesitant to allow their passion to show.

As it stands, The Persephone Project reads as an outline, a proposal for a stage event rather than the event itself. They have the ability to move one step ahead. Hades takes Persephone for his queen. She is not a queen, and she knows it, but she also knows she can become one in spite of everything. Oh how I wanted to see she believed that.

All is not lost. The Persephone Project could still become a powerful statement before it heads to Tuscany, Italy for the Arrezo Festival. To bring it to life, to let it stand up and be counted, it would mean for the cast to walk their way through the production, evaluating the moves, gestures, dance steps, asking hard core questions, attacking them with strength, power and passion. I want to know the cast cares about what they are doing. I want to see and feel what they see and feel. I want to see they wanted to do this so bad they could taste it, rather than tip-toe their way through a highly perceptive ingenious provocative fragment of life.