New York theater group Banana Bag & Bodice performed an extended run of their original show BEOWULF: A Thousand Years of Baggage (A SongPlay) in Berkeley in the summer of 2008 to rave reviews.
For one night in January, the show will be back in the Bay Area, once again produced by the Shotgun Players for one night only at the Berkeley Rep’s RODA theater.
The show is based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf, adapted into a rock opera (or “SongPlay”, as the BBBers call it) with all original music and a live band on-stage. Below are a couple pictures from this past summer’s production:
This performance benefits the upcoming New York production of the show at The Abrons Arts Center in April 2009. The cast includes both New York and Bay Area performers, under the direction of BBB veteran Rod Hipskind.
More stuff:
- Reviews of this summer’s performances,
- Last year’s writeup on BBB’s show The Sewers
- Beowulf the poem online
- Other Banana Bag & Bodice plays
Here’s the King Hrothgar song, sung by King Hrothgar who is played by Dave Malloy who is the composer of all the music for the ShowPlay:
photos by Jessica Palopoli
