New Ohio Theatre and IRT present The Byzantine Choral Project’s
ICONS/IDOLS: IN THE PURPLE ROOM
Book and Lyrics by Helen Banner
Music by Grace Oberhofer
Installation Design by Afsoon Pajoufar
Music Direction by Robert Frost
Sound Design by Grace Oberhofer and Nathan Leigh
Audio Engineering by Nathan Leigh
Produced by Emily Caffery
Technical Direction by Sean T. McGrath
Audio drama performed by:
Hilary Asare as Narrator
Iris Beaumier as Cyra
Isabella Dawis as Constantine VI/ensemble voices
Hannah Eakin as Constantine V
Julia Izumi as ensemble voices
Grace Oberhofer as ensemble voices
Lukas Papenfusscline as Staurakios/audio guide
Shanta Parasuraman as Megaris/ensemble voices
Yael Shavitt as Leo/ensemble voices
Kay Weber as Irene
with songs performed by Iris Beaumier, Isabella Dawis, Hannah Eakin, Grace Oberhofer, Lukas Papenfusscline, Shanta Parasuraman, Yael Shavitt, and Kay Weber
featuring foley artist Nicole Orabona
Production team:
Carpenters: Sean Bertrand, Trevor Catalano, Colin Gold, Ian L’Ecuyer, and Joe Pietropaolo
Electricians: David Levitt and Matthew Jordan Wiggins
Video Technician: Adrian D. Cameron
Driver: Adrián Burke
House Manager/Installation Attendant: Megan McCormick
Press Representative: David Gibbs/DARR Publicity
Cultural & Sensitivity Consultants: Jonathan Alexandratos, Pelin Iscan, Berhan Koral, and Tony Zosherafatain
artist bios
Hilary Asare (Narrator) is a Ghanaian-American actress, writer, and New York Neo-Futurist. You can hear her work on Hit Play, a New York Neo Futurist podcast. She has recently been in New Ohio Theatre’s Ice Factory Festival: Icons/Idols: Outside of Eden (2019), We Need Your Listening (2020), and the The Neo-Futurist's 45 Plays for America's First Ladies (2020).
Iris Beaumier (Cyra) is happy to be back creating with her ICONS/IDOLS family. TV/Film credits include "Modern Love" (Amazon), "Blindspot" (NBC), "Alternatino" (Comedy Central), and "Mariannes Noires" (Round Room Image), a documentary about Afro-French womanhood screening in the U.S. and abroad. She most recently starred in "Don't Stay Safe" (2021 Drama League Nomination) and played the title role in The Dark Star from Harlem: The Spectacular Rise of Josephine Baker at La MaMa (VIV Audelco 2020 Best Lead Actress Award). She's also performed in Ragtime, Godspell (Theatre Aspen), ICONS/IDOLS: Outside of Eden (New Ohio Theatre), and Dr. Rees Ziti’s Pageant for a Better Future (ArsNova ANTFest). Iris is a proud New York City native and Carnegie Mellon alum. www.irisbeaumier.com
Isabella Dawis (Constantine VI/Ensemble Voices) is a performer and playwright. Trained as a classical musician, she collaborates with artists of all disciplines on genre-crossing new works. Recent: Peerless (Theater Mu, opposite sister Francesca), Sweat (Center for Contemporary Opera), The Magic Flute (Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra), NY Philharmonic (soloist), American Theatre Wing’s SpringboardNYC. Bookwriter/Lyricist: Half the Sky (Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award, 5th Avenue Theatre Radio Play/First Draft Commission, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Lotte Lenya Competition Songbook), Sunwatcher (Civilians R&D), 24 Hour Viral Musicals. B.M. summa cum laude, piano performance, University of Minnesota; Classical Voice, New England Conservatory; Rockwell Scholarship, Primary Stages ESPA. www.isabelladawis.com
Hannah Eakin (Constantine V) is so happy to return to the Byzantine Choral Project with this wonderful group of artists. Her favorite credits include Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins; Jane in Tarzan (The Barn Theatre); the regional premiere of The Bridges of Madison County (Arkansas Repertory Theatre); and Mary Martin-of-Tours in Sister Act (Westchester Broadway Theatre). Most recently, she played Berenice in the award-winning short film Berenice, for which she also served as director and designer. She is a proud graduate of Oklahoma City University. Many thanks to Grace, Helen, and Robert, and much love to Mama, Daddy, and Sam.
Julia Izumi (Ensemble Voices) is a playwright and performer. Her work has been developed at MTC, Clubbed Thumb, WP Theater, Berkeley Rep, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference, and Seattle Rep. She is a New Georges Audrey Resident and an upcoming New Dramatists member. As a performer, she has been seen at HERE, Bushwick Starr, La MaMa, Dixon Place, Mabou Mines, Fresh Ground Pepper, the Motor Company, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. She received an MFA in Writing for Performance from Brown University. She is getting better at Mario Kart. www.juliaizumi.com
Lukas Papenfusscline (Staurakios/Audio Guide) is a queer based in NYC creating & performing new music and theatre. Working with both ancient sources and contemporary compositions, their style fuses traditional performance practice with experimentation, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Shanta Parasuraman (Megaris/Ensemble Voices) is an actor, singer, writer, and musician originally from the DC area. Recent credits include Outside of Eden (New Ohio Theatre), The Wolves (Studio Theatre), White Pearl (Studio Theatre), Yentl (Theatre J), and the national tours of The Buddy Holly Story and Remarkably Normal. She received a BA in Theatre/Drama and Telecommunications from Indiana University. www.shantaparasuraman.com
Yael Shavitt (Leo/Ensemble Voices) is an actress and filmmaker. She’s the creator of the award-winning miniseries SPLIT on Amazon Prime. Yael performed at the Public Theater with Obie Award winners 600 Highwaymen in The Record, and with Icons/Idols at New Ohio Theatre in Outside of Eden. A founding member of the theater collective Asylos, Yael co-created and performed in Asylos’ Envy on Fire (Exponential Festival), Woolgatherers (Frigid Festival), Crystal Jukebox Hymn, and the immersive piece Out of the Ash. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC) and the Thelma Yellin School of the Arts (Israel). www.YaelShavitt.com
Kay Weber (Irene), Mezzo Soprano, is a dynamic performer with a commitment to communication through music. Kay's work includes both opera and musical theater, performing with symphony orchestras, and Off Broadway musicals. Some of her credits include Sweetee at NY's Signature Theater Directed by Pat Birch, Soloist in Bernstein's Requiem with Tucson's True Concord and Handel's Messiah with Syracuse's Symphoria. Last (but certainly not least!) both 2016's Icons/Idols and 2019's Outside of Eden productions at The New Ohio Theater as Irene. She received a double bachelors from the Eastman School of Music in Voice Performance and Music Education.
Helen Banner (Playwright) is a playwright and librettist as well as a former adjunct professor at Birkbeck College, University of London teaching the religious, political and social history of Late Antiquity. A former member of the JAM at New Georges and the Ingram New Works Lab at Nashville Rep, their work has been shown at NYTW (Next Door), the Drama League, OPERA America and The Tank among other venues. Their play Intelligence will be presented at The Assembly, Roxy Upstairs for this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival by Lucy Jackson Productions and Dutch Kills Theater Company. www.helenbanner.com
Grace Oberhofer (Composer/Sound Design/Ensemble Voices) is an award-winning composer with a focus on non-traditional music theater. A Tacoma, WA native and Tufts graduate, Grace also works as a performer, sound designer, and educator. An alumna of the BMI Workshop, her work has been developed/presented by OPERA America, The Tank, New Georges, Corkscrew Festival, Seattle Rep, and Central Square, among others. Other compositional projects include Hot Cross Buns and A Doll’s House: A New Opera. www.graceoberhofer.com
Afsoon Pajoufar (Installation Design) is a NYC based freelance designer of stage and environment for play, opera and live performance. Arriving at set design from a background in fine arts and film, she earned her MFA in Set Design at Boston University. Her designs have been shown on Off-Broadway and regional theaters such as Theatre For A New Audience, ART New York, Fisher Center at Bard, Harvard TDM, MIT Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Kitchen Theatre, Actor’s Shakespeare Company, Prelude Festivals and etc. Her design for Cabaret was chosen for the 2019 American Exhibit at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. Afsoon moved to the United States from Tehran, Iran. www.afsoonpajoufar.com
Robert Frost (Music Director) is an NYC-based pianist, music director, and educator. Robert has worked with 5th Avenue Theater, New Dramatists, Lincoln Center, Ogunquit Playhouse, O’Neill Theatre Center, The Cher Show (Lab), Berkshire Theater Group, New Georges, Brown University, NYU, Theatre Latté Da, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, Arkansas Rep, Under the Radar Festival (Public Theatre), Sharon Playhouse, and Molloy College. Voice Faculty: NYU Tisch (New Studio on Broadway). www.rfrostmusic.com
Nathan Leigh (Audio Engineer/Sound Design) has designed for theatres including New York Theatre Workshop, Cherry Lane Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Group (Broadway World Berkshires Sound Design of the Decade for Godspell), Stoneham Theatre (IRNE Best Sound Design 2009 for Strangers On A Train), Central Square Theatre (IRNE Best Sound Design 2010 for The Hound of the Baskervilles), and many more. With Kyle Jarrow, Nathan co-created the musicals Big Money (WTF Boris Segall Fellowship 2008) and The Consequences (World Premiere 2012 at WHAT). With the Liars and Believers ensemble, Nathan Leigh composed scores for adaptations of Song of Songs, Icarus, and A Story Beyond.
Sean T. McGrath is a multi-faceted theater artist and technician with a master’s degree in Ensemble Theatre from London’s Rose Bruford College. Recent Production Management credits include Eureka Day (Colt Coeur), Sylvia (New York Deaf Theatre), and 17 Minutes and All The Rage (The Barrow Group). Recent Sound Engineer credits include Mike Birbiglia’s The New One (Cherry Lane Theatre/Bull Journey Productions), Proof of Love and The Way She Spoke (Audible Theater at Minetta Lane). In addition to his work in theater he was recently the Assistant Director for the pilot Everything Happens for a Reason and will serve in the same role on the upcoming short film The Sanctity of Liz. He is also a regular participant in The Farm Theater Company’s Playwriting Workshop with Padraic Lillis and serves as the Co-Artistic Director of The NOW Collective.
Emily Caffery (Producer) is a theater producer and actor living in Brooklyn (Lenapehoking). She is the artistic producer of The Assembly, developing new work including In Corpo (upcoming at Theatre Row), Seagullmachine (La MaMa), HOME/SICK (JACK), and I Will Look Forward to This Later (New Ohio). Other producing/management: Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival; PROTOTYPE Festival; Colt Coeur’s Eureka Day (NY Times Critic’s Pick); and Hypokrit Production’s Elements of Change, a Climate Week NYC collaboration with UNICEF, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and GreenPoint Innovations. NY acting includes: Seagullmachine (La MaMa), King Lear (Brick), The Tempest, Marat/Sade (Columbia), Animal Wisdom choir (Bushwick Starr). Alumna: Wesleyan University, National Theater Institute. emilycaffery.com
David Gibbs (Press Representative) (he/him) is the founder of DARR Publicity, a boutique press agency specializing in theater, dance, film, music-driven shows and unique theatrical experiences. Clients include The Amoralists, Company XIV, Ice Factory Festival, La MaMa, Molière in the Park, New Ohio Theatre, Pig Iron and PTP/NYC. David has publicized shows at many Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway venues throughout NYC. His clients have won Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Obie and Off Broadway Alliance Awards. www.DarrPublicity.com
The Byzantine Choral Project is a dynamic collaboration between playwright Helen Banner and composer Grace Oberhofer to make theater using women’s (cis & trans) and nonbinary voices. Inspired by the Byzantine Empresses Irene, Maria and Euphrosyne, they are creating work that showcases the radical power of strong, diverse performers singing on stage and explores the importance of imagery, representation and iconoclasm in classical and contemporary life. byzantinechoralproject.com
ABOUT NEW OHIO THEATRE
New Ohio Theatre serves Manhattan’s most adventurous audiences by developing, curating and presenting bold work by New York’s independent theatre community. We believe the best of this community, the small artistic ensembles and the daring producing companies who operate without a permanent theatrical home, are actively expanding the boundaries of what theatre is and what it can be. From our home in the West Village’s historic Archive Building, the New Ohio strengthens, nurtures, and promotes this community, providing a professional, high-profile platform for downtown’s most mature, ridiculous, engaging, irreverent, gut-wrenching, frivolous, sophisticated, foolish, and profound theatrical endeavors. newohiotheatre.org
NEW OHIO THEATRE STAFF
Artistic Director Robert Lyons
Creative Producer Jaclyn Biskup
Associate Producer Rachel Denise April
Press Representative David Gibbs/DARR Publicity
NEW OHIO THEATRE BOARD
Scott Budlong
Chris Dickey
Margaret B. Grossman, Chair
Erich Jungwirth
Robert C. Lyons
Vanessa Sparling
Margaret Weber
ARCHIVE RESIDENCY COMPANIES
The Archive Residency offers artists a two-year commitment of space, artistic support, and institutional continuity for the development and presentation of a new work. In partnership with IRT Theatre, our neighbors in the Archive Building, we provide independent theatre companies with that most elusive and invaluable resource: an artistic home.
Current Archive Residency Artists
Byzantine Choral Project (2019-21)
Radical Evolution (2019-21)
Kareem M. Lucas (2020-21)
Levingston/Hare/Luckett (2020-21)
BLACK LIVES MATTER
New Ohio Theatre stands in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. We commit to fighting against those inflicting violence on Black communities, to wrestling with new questions, and holding ourselves more accountable as we move forward to a better future. If you would like to donate to support the fight for justice and equality, please click here to learn about one of our favorite organizations supporting Black trans lives.
INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
New Ohio Theatre is situated on the Lenape island of Mannahatta. We pay respect to Lenape peoples and ancestors past, present, and future, and acknowledge our reliance on the land and waters of Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland.
Special Thanks & Acknowledgments
The development of ICONS/IDOLS received funding from OPERA America's Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
ICONS/IDOLS was developed in part at Ice Factory 2016, a program of New Ohio Theatre, and The Jam, New Georges’ performance lab for early career female artists, as well as The Tank, a home for emerging artists.
ICONS/IDOLS: In the Purple Room was developed through the Archive Residency, a program of New Ohio Theatre and IRT Theater. newohiotheatre.org | irttheater.org
ICONS/IDOLS: In the Purple Room is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
The Archive Residency is generously supported, in part, by grants from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; Howard Gilman Foundation; and Mental Insight Foundation.
This audio drama was recorded under a SAG-AFTRA Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Writers’ Notes
Helen Banner (Playwright):
Without giving any spoilers, it’s helpful going into the installation to know just a little bit about what was happening in eighth century Constantinople. The installation uses an excerpt from my play “Irene” which is very much a pseudo-history, written to reclaim Irene and explore the whispers that appear in the real histories about her “doll”. However, most of the characters you are going to meet did exist and they were certainly caught up in the Iconoclastic Wars that ripped through Byzantine Society in two waves between 726-787CE and 814-842 CE.
Byzantine history is infinitely complex with endless loops and repeating names and terrible mutilations, so this is a very simplified account, starting with the division of the old Roman Empire into two separate Eastern and Western parts in 284CE. The Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople in 330AD and the Byzantine Church and Empire flourished, becoming a challenge to the Western Carolingian church and Western Kingdoms that sprang up after the fall of Rome. Increasingly East and West diverged over the issue of icons. Iconoclasm became a defining feature of Byzantine culture and the authorities systematically destroyed religious images. The word iconoclast comes from the Greek term to break icons and iconoclasts pointed to the prohibition on graven images in the Ten Commandments to justify their persecution of supporters of icons.
One explanation for this struggle over images within Greek society looks to social and class reasons. Icons were highly popular with women and with monks and were thereby a threat to the centralized religious and political authorities. This explanation has particular resonance when we look at Irene’s support for icon worship. Supporting the iconophiles gave Irene access to different pockets of political power, which was crucial given her fragile claim to rule. Technically she only ever held power for her son as Regent, though she maneuvered her way to holding the throne in her own right. In 787CE she called the Second Council of Nicea, which condemned iconoclasm as heretical. This brought the first wave of iconoclasm to an end and Irene was hailed as the restorer of the icons, though she was also placed on an impossible collision course with her iconoclastic son, Constantine VI, that ultimately saw her complicit in his murder.
Staurakios became a crucial advisor to Irene during to her rise to power and their alliance was another example of “outsider” politics managing to subvert the traditional structures of power that handed rule from male Emperor to eldest son. Eunuchs occupied an ambiguous status within Byzantine society. They were able to pass between spaces designated as male or female within the palace and experienced homophobia and distrust. At the same time, eunuchs were high status court individuals with great power as bureaucrats (and sometimes also soldiers). A conceit operated that they were like angels protecting the Emperor’s body from the pollution of lesser beings. For example, the Emperor had special purple shoes that only the eunuchs could place on their feet.
If you are interested in learning more about the period, Byzantine Studies is a vibrant and cutting edge field of historical study, perhaps because Byzantium largely escaped the fate of Greece and Rome in being used by Victorian and twentieth century historians as fuel for modern Imperialism. It is really noticeable that many of the leading texts published in English are written by women and/or queer studies scholars drawn to questions of physicality, gender and sexuality and the unique gender world of the eunuchs. We could recommend dozens of books with more appearing every year, but as a very quick reading list, these books on Byzantium are fascinating:
Roland Betancourt, Byzantine Intersectionality (2020); Leslie Brubaker, Inventing Byzantine Iconoclasm (2012); Lynda Garland, Byzantine Women (2006); Judith Herrin, Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire (2007);Matthew Kueffler, The Manly Eunuch (2001); Leonora Neville, Byzantine Gender (2019); Kathryn M. Ringrose, The Perfect Servant (2003)
The Installation is set in the Great Palace of Constantinople, which no longer survives, but was situated somewhere in the Southeastern corner of the city between the Hippodrome and the Hagia Sophia. The Purple Room was a new addition to the palace by Constantine V, who designed it as a special way of indicating the legitimacy of male heirs. The room was lined with purple stone or silk and only Empresses gave birth there in a purposefully public ceremony. Purple was a high status color in the classical world since it could only be made by crushing sea snail shells. Sumptuary laws limited the wearing of purple to those with imperial rank. “Porphyrogennetos” is the Greek word for “born in the purple” and gave extra status to the male heir born in that room, highly useful in a world where usurpation and disputes over the inheritance of the throne were frequent and violent. The Purple Room developed its own grisly history, moving from being the setting for royal births to execution, mutilations and death.
Grace Oberhofer (Composer)
In 2016, when we first began developing ICONS/IDOLS, I was vaguely familiar with Byzantine chant, and already felt strongly that vocal music should be the driving sound of the narrative. Byzantine hymns and the tradition of Byzantine chant--styles that are supported entirely by the voice and possess a strong ecclesiastic identity--seemed a natural inspiration for the world these Purple Empresses navigated.
It was right at the start of our 2016 developmental process that I first heard mention of Kassia in my subway-read at the time, Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music; right in the introduction to the book, Kassia is named as the oldest known female composer whose works are still performed today. After further research and discussion with Helen, we soon realized that Kassia was not merely a Byzantine-era composer, but also a part of the history we were reimagining: Kassia attended the bride show hosted by Euphrosyne--Irene’s granddaughter--for her stepson, Theophilus. Kassia was ultimately cast aside in favor of Empress Theodora, the woman who successfully cemented iconophilism within the Eastern Roman Empire. As the story goes, Kassia was rejected for her boldness towards the emperor-to-be when he attempted to flirt with her. Theophilus chose the winning line “from woman flowed corruption,” referring to Eve; Kassia responded with the witty, “and through a woman came forth the better things,” referring to Mary, mother of Jesus. Theophilus was flustered, and Kassia supposedly was so heartbroken that she formed a monastery and took to a life of writing. This bride show mythology is also tied to her most famous hymn, “Hymn of Kassiani” or “The Woman of Many Sins,” which is still commonly sung in orthodox churches today, and is also excerpted and adapted within our audio narrative.
Kassia’s music is bold: its harmony is complex and its textures are so engaging that it seemed to give me permission to depart from the standard structure of Byzantine hymn and chant throughout ICONS/IDOLS. Like Kassia, Irene is attempting to create a world that honors her voice and her beliefs--though perhaps Irene opts for a firmer hand. Throughout the score of In The Purple Room, I have attempted to honor the fluidity and lyricism of Byzantine hymn, while adapting the “Ison” or drone note of Byzantine chant into repeated or “looped” vocal patterns that amplify the passion and persistence of our players within the context of the show. These alterations create a more jagged landscape over which the soloists are heard, which seemed a natural choice in a world where an Empress turns a structure of power on its head. Additionally, the score explores the extremes of the human voice--and the human body--using devised soundscapes to create emotional environments, such as the birth of Constantine VI, the death of Leo, and the moment when Irene becomes purple. I’ve also attempted to honor Kassia by adapting two of her pieces, “The Woman of Many Sins” (Τροπάριο της Κασσιανής) and “The Tomb of Your Remains” (Η Των Λειψάνων Σου Θηκη).
I’d highly recommend listening to VocaMe’s Kassia: Byzantine Hymns of the First Female Composer. For reading references, you can check out Sounds and Sweet Airs (Anna Beer) for more about women composers’ role in the evolution of what we label “western classical music”, and Essays on Music in the Byzantine World (Oliver Strunk) for context on the theoretical structures behind traditional Byzantine music.