INsiders Recap: Argonautika
By A Noise Within
May 2, 2019
On Tuesday, April 30th we celebrated our final INsiders event of the year! The night began with A Noise Within’s much anticipated 2019-20 Season Announcement, and many of our INsiders joined us for the big reveal and a champagne toast. We then headed upstairs for the main event – our evening of discussion of Argonautika. The conversation was led by a formidable duo – Dr. Miranda Johnson-Haddad, the dramaturg for the show, and Trisha Miller, who plays Athena in ANW’s very own production!
After enjoying some celebratory end-of-year pizza, we dove right in with a riveting discussion on Mary Zimmerman. Trisha reminisced on her time performing in Metamorphases at a past company and mentioned how privileged she felt to perform another piece of hers here at ANW. To help the INsiders understand what it’s like to be such an anchor in a long and complicated show, Trisha brought in her “cheat sheet” that she uses backstage to help her keep track of props, costume changes, and the order of scenes. We also had the treat of seeing her makeup design, which she noted was the most complicated makeup design she’s ever had to do for a show.
Miranda then gave us some amazing background info for the show, including narrative variations on all the various heroes and mortals involved with Argonautika. We also took some time to watch clips from other adaptations of Jason and the Argonauts, specifically clips from the 1963 film starring Todd Armstrong as Jason and Nigel Green as Hercules.
Our night ended on a wonderful discussion of the power of theatre to younger audiences. Trisha and Miranda both reflected that student matinees are some of the most rewarding performances for the actors, because they know that by exposing students to the arts at a young age, they are creating a future generation of theatre-lovers.
Thank you to everyone who made this year’s INsiders series the best it has ever been! If you’re interested in joining us next year, please email Rebecca Wilson at rwilson@anoisewithin.org.
