ON STAGE
Hecuba by Marina Carr
Directed by Dipankar Mukherjee
April 5-21, 2024
The Southern Theater
Photos by Bruce Silcox
Hecuba “teases out the barbaric aftermath of the fall of Troy, while also presenting it as a metaphor for the modern day plight of those dispossessed by warfare – especially women and children.” — The Stage
In the aftermath of the fall of Troy, Agamemnon, the victor, locks horns with Hecuba, the vanquished queen. Both have suffered intimate loss — the sacrifice of a daughter, the murder of a son. In Marina Carr’s bold engagement with Euripides, there’s a demand for further bloodshed. The drama weaves threads of inconsolable rage and grief with fate, revenge and inevitable carnage. It explores the shreds of duty and honour as well as the terrible deeds hatred breeds as it touches bravely on Hecuba’s heroic nature and ‘the endless tears of women’.
Cast
Hecuba Queen of Troy, Wife of Priam — Suzanne Victoria Cross
Agamemnon King of Achaeans — Matthew Saxe
Cassandra Daughter of Hecuba — Ankita Ashrit
Polyxena Daughter of Hecuba — Anne Guadagnino
Polymestor King of Thrace — Ernest Briggs*
Odysseus King of Ithaca — Tyler Stamm
Polydorus Youngest Son of Hecuba — Nathan Berglund
Nepotolemus Son of Achilles — J. Antonio Teodoro
Boy 1 Son of Polymestor — Neel Shah
Boy 2 Son of Polymestor & Servant — Sudarsna Mukund
* Indicates Equity actor
Artistic Personnel
Dipankar Mukherjee — Director
Sir Curtis Kirby III — Assistant Director
Mike Grogan — Lighting Designer
Orin Herfindal — Set Builder & Lead Carpenter
Mary Ann Kelling — Costume Designer
Laura Jones — Assistant Costume Designer
Bethany Lacktorin — Composer, Live Musician & Sound Designer
Sandra Agustin — Choreographer
Amy Muse — Dramaturg
Production Staff
Cassi Henning — Stage Manager
Winona Honey — Assistant Stage Manager
Zachary Kulzer — Production Assistant
Nathan Berglund — Production Assistant
Program
Performance Guide
Press
WCCO Mid-morning
April 3, 2024
Mid-morning host Shayla Reaves and Heather Brown interview Suzanne Victoria Cross (Hecuba and Pangea World Theater Production Manager) and Dipankar Mukherjee (Director and Pangea World Theater Co-Artistic Director).
Minnesota Theater Chat Podcast
March 24, 2024
Julie Jackson of Minnesota Theater Love and Jill Schafer of Cherry and Spoon dig into the work of Pangea World Theater with Adlyn Carreras (General Manager) and Suzanne Victoria Cross (Hecuba and Production Manager).
Sahan Journal
April 5, 2024
Myah Goff interviewed director and co-artistic director, Dipankar Mukherjee. “Our job is to bring people together, to engage in a discussion so that hopefully, every day we’re asking questions. Along with the audience, we’re searching for answers out of this violence, you know? What do we need to do so we don’t leave the next generation behind, where everything is set up for them to be depressed and jaded?”
Returning to Haifa
Written by Ghassan Kanafani
Adapted by Naoimi Wallace and Ismail Khalidi
Directed by Dipankar Mukherjee
April 21-23 & May 3-6, 2023
Mixed Blood Theatre
Photos by Bruce Silcox
"Kanafani’s parable is even-handed enough to explore the agony of both the exiled Palestinian couple and the Jewish widow...and to empathize with all of them." — Jewish Renaissance
The touching story centers on Palestinian couple Said and Safiyya who were forced to flee their home in 1948. Now, in the aftermath of the 1967 Six Day War, the borders are open for the first time in 20 years and the couple dare to return to their house in Haifa. They are prepared to find someone else living where they once did. Yet nothing can prepare Said and Safiyya for the encounter they both desire and dread.
Cast
Said — Ernest Briggs*
Young Said/Dov — Mohamed Haji
Safiyya — Rasha Ahmad Sharif
Young Safiyya — Sayli Khadilkar
Miriam — Esther Ouray
* Indicates Equity actor
Artistic Personnel
Dipankar Mukherjee — Director
Sir Curtis Kirby III — Assistant Director
Mike Grogan — Lighting Design
Orin Herfindal — Set Design
Mary Ann Kelling — Costume Design
Eric M. C. Gonzales — Sound Design
Leila Awadallah — Movement Coach
Production Staff
Suzanne Victoria Cross — Stage Manager
Winona Honey — Assistant Stage Manager
Zachary Kulzer — Directing Apprentice/Production Assistant
Program
