Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage
"Hilarious...clever...has the makings of a cult fave."-Variety
After a successful smash-hit run in April, 2009 at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City, and multiple gigs at Lower East Side music venues, Banana Bag & Bodice brings their award-winning epic SongPlay on tour.
Digging into the roots of the original epic poem, this club-style SongPlay hearkens back to the raw and rowdy style of storytelling in the old Scandinavian mead halls- with a passion for fierce poetry and a pint of thick beer.
Monsters and professors collide in blood-soaked Scandinavia as this hefty poem is rescued from 1,000 years of analysis and transformed in a defiantly raucous dissertation on art and violence. With a 7-piece band including dueling trombones, bass clarinet, accordion and saw, Beowulf combines Weillian cabaret, 40's jazz harmony, indie rock, punk, electronica and Romantic lieder into a cacophonous swirl.
Written by Jason Craig
Music by Dave Malloy
Co-Directed by Rod Hipskind & Mallory Catlett
with Jen Baker, Rick Burkhardt, Jason Craig, Ezra Gale, Rod Hipskind, Anna Ishida, Jessica Jelliffe, Sam Kulik, Mario Maggio, Dave Malloy, Kristen Sieh, Shaye Troha and Peter Wise.
"...joyfully raucous and silly...brings out the power and the color of the legend..."-The New Yorker
"A thrashing, bashing rendition of the 'Beowulf' story...all done to music that demands to be described as demented."- New York Times
"...a brilliant musical score...wonderfully cacophonous arrangements for blaring trombones, booming percussion, wild guitar, and wailing horns and viola, that not only capture the raw, primitive sensibilities of the story's eighth-century Scandinavian setting and characters but also underline subtle elements of the drama through hard rock, traditional Middle Eastern tunes, rap, Broadway, 1960's folk, and vocal jazz."- Back Stage
**Winner of the 2008 Glickman Award**
**Best of 2009, The New Yorker**
**2009 Innovative Theater Award Nomination, Best Music**
**Best of 2008: East Bay Express (#1), SF Chronicle, SF Bay Guardian, SF Examiner, Mercury News**
http://www.bananabagandbodice.org
http://davemalloy.com/beowulf.html
Tickets are $15 and subject to service fees. Seating is limited and first come first served. Once all seating is filled only Standing Room will be available.