Black Orpheus Brings the Beats to the Bay Area

-
An Interview with Director Stephen Buescher

By Ariella Wolfe

Stephen Buescher, head of movement and physical theater for the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program, has been waiting for the opportunity to create a theatrical adaptation of Black Orpheus. While studying theater in Brazil, Buescher developed a strong connection to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice after seeing Marcel Camus’s 1959 film, Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), an adaptation of the myth which takes place during the Brazilian festival of Carnaval. 

The cast of Black Orpheus in rehearsal. Photo by Beatriz Miranda-Torres. 

This week, Buescher gets the chance to bring Brazil to the Bay Area. Black Orpheus: Una Historia de Amor marks the first time that A.C.T. Stage Coach and the M.F.A. Program have collaborated on a production created specifically for a community tour. The relationships fostered between A.C.T. and the larger Bay Area community through the Stage Coach initiative have allowed for new partnerships and opportunities to share in theatrical experiences. Buescher shares some thoughts on the play and his own artistic process and perspective.

What was your inspiration for this production?

When I found out that the movie Orfeu Negro was based on a Brazilian play, I was determined to find an English translation. I read that the playwright, Vinícius de Moraes, saw the movie and didn’t like it, and now I see one reason why. His language in the play is so poetic, so specific, and in the movie it’s really colloquial. I’m drawn to the linguistics of the play, but the rhythms of the movie.

The musical core of the A.C.T. production is artists of African heritage and Afro-Lat
ina women: Cesária Évora, Virginia Rodrigues, and Iyeoka Okoawo. I want to follow the pulse of the source material and where that comes from.

What is it about Black Orpheus that makes it a good fit for a community tour?

I love that there are different cultural themes in the piece. I’m also glad there are students from Downtown High School who will be assisting me in rehearsals and that we can reach out to the community to invite them to create the scenery. We are also able to work with the [Brazilian dance] group Sambaxé to get the dance and song and rhythms going. The other thing is that I like street theater; this play is like street theater. Even if we’re indoors, hopefully it will feel like you can shout back and you don’t have to behave a certain way.

Are there specific cultural influences you hope to include in this production?

There will be a Brazilian cultural aspect. Some of the songs will be sung in Portuguese, and some will be in Spanish. Partially because we riffed off of a Spanish translation, there’s going to be more Spanish in the text than Portuguese. There will also be Greek influence from the original Orpheus and Eurydice myth, and African culture will inspire some of the movement and songs.

Why is multicultural theater particularly important?

For me it’s a necessary expression. There’s something about being in a place of a different culture, a different language that I have always loved. I love getting immersed in that. 


Black Orpheus: Una Historia de Amor is free and open to the public, no reservations necessary. See below for performance times: 

Sunday, May 8 at 1:30 pm: Persia Triangle (4650 Mission Street), Excelsior
With special appearances by Sambaxé Dance Company and Bateria Força Feminina.
Special performance by Cypress String Quartet at 4 pm.

Monday, May 9 at 7 pm: La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley

Thursday, May 12 at 7 pm: Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

Friday, May 13 at 6 pm: Mendell Plaza (1429 Mendell Street), Bayview
In collaboration with 3rd on Third, Bayview Opera House, and Carnaval SF.
With special appearances by Sambaxé Dance Company and Bateria Força Feminina.

Saturday, May 14 at 4 pm: Yerba Buena Gardens
In collaboration with the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, A.C.T. celebrates the new SFMOMA.
With special appearances by Sambaxé Dance Company and Bateria Força Feminina.

 Click here to join the Facebook event.

For a comprehensive study guide on Black Orpheus, click here!

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die,
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me
Read more

A Hell of a Businessman: A Biography of Joe Glaser

-
By Simon Hodgson Born in 1897, Joe Glaser was the son of a successful Russian Jewish physician in Chicago. He originally intended to follow a similar career and entered medical school, but after passing out in the operating room, he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He started off in business selling used cars, but found better luck managing prizefighters. In his biography of Al Capone, Laurence Bergreen notes, “Glaser’s power to fix fights earned him a reputation as a sage of boxing, especially among reporters.” With advanced word as to which fights were fixed, Glaser could predict the results—and even the number of rounds—of many bouts in Chicago. His connections with organized crime continued in his next career change, when he began running nightclubs and whorehouses in the South Side for the Chicago Outfit, the powerful underworld gang led by Capone. Glaser’s tendency toward illegal action nearly ended his career. In 1928, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for
Read more