Pylade

"Mandić sets the pace for this energetic and fearless ensemble...When the actors are clothed, Ana Savić Gecan's costumes give a clear sense of their social station and role in the play. Michael Sirotta underscores everything with his heart-pounding original music, thrillingly executed by an ensemble of three. Staged in traverse, we feel the full brunt of this tale of cyclical cataclysmic confrontation." Full Review

"It is nigh on impossible, however, for the mere mortals in the audience to follow what’s going on in 'Pylade,' for two reasons. One is the translation, which is so arid, awkward and off-putting as to be almost self-parody...But the real reason it is difficult to follow is that the approach the director takes is, um, distracting...Even more watchable, and less tragic, is the sensuality — which is the third level in which to take in the play, and which just about crushes the other two levels." Full Review

"Pasolini wanted to explore the supposed homoerotic bond between Orestes and his cousin Pylades...This treatment with its idiosyncratic writing and directorial fixations doesn’t coherently present the plot...At times, it verges on a parody of the in your face theater 'happenings' of the 1960’s...This production only fitfully succeeds aesthetically, but on most other levels it’s confounding." Full Review

"'Pylade' is a one-of-a-kind production that shines because of its fearlessness...Focusing on Pasolini’s incomparable humanism, director Ivica Buljan, delivers the kind of work that you know will haunt each person who saw it. Whether it's for the explicit sexual content, the chilling sociopolitical discourse, or the power of the performances, this 'Pylade' is the thing myths are made of." Full Review

"'Pylade' could surely profit from a translation that allows for a bigger contrast between the scenes, or, in other words, that is not so stiff sounding...The ensemble, although a talented and colorful one, seems to be unevenly explored...A beautiful and stark example of theatre done in dialogue with those who came before us, who were aware of their zeitgeist and not afraid to get dirty, messy and raw towards a complex goal beyond entertainment: awakening." Full Review

"While this production is underscored by a great deal of full-frontal nudity and graphically explicit sexual scenarios—none of which, upon reflection, are at all gratuitous—this is a play about fanatical passion...Taken as merely a dance/movement project 'Pylade' is fairly riveting. But with time allowed to digest its full meaning and timeless socio-political significance, it’s the sort of production that will have an enduring impact." Full Review

"This piece is an ambitious and athletic work receiving a new production...In the main characters who are a male there is this invisible barrier to truthful movement...At time this production achieves this mixture of sacrilegious and transcendence through an alchemy of sound, movement, and acting...Director Ivica Buljan is the master of ceremonies and sculpts the chaos into rising crests of actions reach the heights of madness." Full Review