“Gallathea or Galatea is an Elizabethan era stage play, a comedy by John Lyly. The first record of the play’s performance was at Greenwich Palace on New Year’s Day, 1588 where it was performed before Queen Elizabeth I and her court by the Children of St Paul’s, a troupe of boy actors.”
—wiki
“John Lyly’s Gallathea is a queer love story set inside the landscape of classical myth. In order to avoid becoming dinner for a sea monster, Gallathea and Phillida are sent into the forest dressed as boys. Meanwhile, three shipwrecked brothers set out to seek their fortunes, Cupid stirs up his usual trouble, nymphs fall for mortals, and Neptune – God of the Sea – waits to make his move. This playful pastoral of love, desire, and finding yourself is an affirmation of identity – joyfully reclaimed for 2021.”
—promo
“So essentially, this play from 1588 is already extremely queer, and extremely female-driven – and now this online production is being realized as a new exercise in queerness for our current moment. The director is a queer woman named Emma Rosa Went, and she’s rad – I worked with her on Female Nude Seated – and the producing theatre, Red Bull, are themselves all about reinventing/revitalizing classical texts for today. I’m lucky enough to be playing Gallathea herself, which is awesome! A lot of work is also being put in to cast queer actors, actors of color – and, not for nothing, various classical gods like Cupid, Diana, and Venus (characters in this play) are themselves going to be portrayed by non-binary people. The queerness abounds!”
—Olivia Rose Baressi
Premiering tonight (a little while after I write this) an online performance of Gallathea will be streaming this month via Red Bull Theater in association with Drama League, featuring flommist Olivia Rose Baressi in the lead,
“I feel really strongly about the piece already, and the sort of joyful experimentation that it’s going to hold about love, queerness, femininity, and all of that.”
To stream, head here.
Facebook stuffs here.
Behind the scenes chat chat here.
A recording of the livestream will be available until 7:00 PM EST on Friday, 19 March 2021 – then it disappears.
—steve mehallo
Flommist Steve Mehallo is a graphic designer, illustrator, font designer, educator, foodie and gadfly. He is the creator and founder of FLOMM!
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