Big Love: Theater Arts at Caltech

Presented By: Caltech Performing and Visual Arts

CALTECH STUDENTS: Only $5!

Directed by Brian Brophy, this comedy-romance by Chuck Mee set in a pristine Italian villa, creates a world that lies somewhere between our own and the ancient Greek culture of its source material. Reinterpreting one of the oldest extant Greek tragedies, The Suppliant Maidens by Aeschylus, Big Love sets individual autonomy in conflict with social power and legal doctrine in order to examine the forces of oppression, misogyny, and violence in human culture, then and now.

The plot of the play is relatively simple: 50 sisters, forced to marry their 50 cousins, seek refuge in Italy. The brothers find them and wedding plans continue. Left with no other choice, the sisters murder the men, except for Lydia, who spares her husband's life. Her choice inserts complexity into the story; her act of love is also an act of betrayal against her sisters. In a landscape of mass brutality, what is one act of kindness; a dissident act to be extinguished, or our only hope at redemption?

The play will also be performed on Friday evening, November 5, and on Sunday afternoon, November 7.

Learn More: Theater Arts at Caltech