VIDEO ELEMENT "UNDERWORLDERS" 1:30 / HDVIDEO / 2012 TORSTEN ZENAS BURNS
Is a unique collaboration between the HCC Theater and Electronic Media departments, Sarah Ruhl's provocative retelling of the Eurydice and Orpheus myth takes on a new dimension with an entirely electronic set in the Holyoke Community College production of Eurydice. Using five video projectors, surround sound, and the animation and video talents of local media artists and HCC alumni, HCC faculty Timothy Cochran and Justin West designed and directed this production ofEurydice to inaugurate HCC's new Media Arts Center Black Box experimental performance space.Performances are May 3, 4, 5 and May 10, 11, 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 ($5 for HCC students) and must be purchased in advance by calling (413) 552-2485. The Black Box is located in the HCC Campus Center, 303 Homestead Ave., Holyoke.Eurydice explores the challenges facing a young woman -- Eurydice -- married to the greatest musician of all time, her meeting with her father in the underworld, and her attempts to fend off the advances of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. "The play combines disparate elements such as Freud and Romeo and Juliet, so it's the perfect candidate for multimedia treatment," said Justin West, HCC professor of Electronic Media.The Black Box experimental performance space at HCC's Media Arts Center was designed to foster collaborations between the Theater and Electronic Media programs at the college. West and Cochran worked together to realize a space for the play that combines animation, live and pre-recorded video, digital audio and electronic instruments. This will be the first performance in the Black Box space.
