Event

Old Queen and the Sea

Kyle Kupres, storyteller, violinist and the creator/producer of this show teamed up with modern classical and film-score composer, Gerald Busby (Robert Altman's 3 Women, Paul Taylor's RUNES) to bring you the dreamlike tale of a nameless, aging drag queen who, fed-up with life on land, decides to sail out to sea in her bathtub. She travels to the end of the world in search of herself and finds that self-fulfillment is only half the journey. At sea, she encounters an ancient creature-from-the-depths who teaches her that in the quest to fulfill her basic needs she will have to rely upon others. In turn, they discover the value of true connection between two complete individuals.

This Wagnerian chamber opera, which melds aspects of experimental theater and performance installation, re-imagines the classic tale of Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea". In this story, we explore the idea of the self and the landscape of the open sea as environments of isolation. All is not what it seems when here, we find that one is never truly alone. The two characters, the queen, played by Kyle Kupres (violin) and the fish, played by Arman Alpyspaev (viola), meet and fall in love under unlikely circumstances. Together, the characters explore their new relationship and the new rituals that define it outside the bounds and mandates of normative society.

Featured performers, actor Nicholas Gorham and cellist George Trapp. Sets by Blaise Garber. Lights by Liz Liguori. Costumes by Diego Montoya.