Eve Sussman & The Rufus Corporation THE RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMEN Berlin Premiere January 25, 7pm - March 5, 2007 Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart New York City Premiere February 21 – 28, 2007 IFC Theater, 323 6th Avenue @ West 3rd Street "... they did not commit the rape out of wantonness, nor even with a desire to do mischief, but with the fixed purpose ..." -Plutarch ABOUT THE RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMEN DIRECTED BY EVE SUSSMAN / ORGINAL SCORE JONATHAN BEPLER / CHOREOGRAPHY CLAUDIA DE SERPA SOARES / COSTUMES KAREN YOUNG Developed through improvisation, The Rape of the Sabine Women is a re-interpretation of the Roman myth of the Sabine women updated to the 1960s. The original story concerns Romulus' plot to ensure the future of Rome: he instructs the Roman men to abduct the neighboring Sabine Women. The battle over the women and the intervention they attempted is known as the Intervention of the Sabine Women and is illustrated in the painting of that name by Jacques-Louis David. The Rufus Corporation has re-envisioned the Romans as G-men and the Sabines as butchers' daughters. The Rape of the Sabine Women was shot on location in Athens and Hydra in Greece and in Berlin, Germany in 2005. THE FIVE ACTS The film – conceived in an operatic five act structure – opens in the Pergamon Museum where the men meet a speechless soothsayer in the form of a museum guard, who is followed by a wolf (the symbol of Rome). They are delivered their fate via tour headsets that relay hypnotic electronic sounds. In the S-Bahn the men hear women's voices but they appear as mirages – figments of a collective imagination. In Act II, the convention is completed in Tempelhof Airport, played out by the men moving in unison to the click of taps and strains of bouzouki. The third Act culminates with the men carrying out their charge, stealing women in the modern Agora – the meat market in Athens. The piece turns on Act IV where our protagonists appear living in a classic modern 60's dream house overlooking the Aegean. The house is 'picture perfect;' its perfection wrenching. The inhabitants of the house begin to mistrust one another. Infidelity is implied. The men, who initially came together to steal from strangers, take from each other. The epidemic they propagated – the love triangle – turns upon them. In the final Act at the Herodion Theatre – the site of a massive chorus – the tension borne in the house erupts. A fight becomes a riot. The intervention of the women is fraught. The chaos that ensues does not end, but transforms into nothingness. The wolf returns. He has become a wolf But still his humanity clings to him And suffers in him... ...His every movement possessed So one house is destroyed. –Ted Hughes Tales from Ovid 89 SECONDS AT ALCÁZAR This video was the first collaboration with the founding collaborators of The Rufus Corporation. The video was inspired by the Western masterpiece 'Las Meninas' (Maids of Honour) painted in 1656, by the Spanish painter Diego Velasquez. It received international acclaim after being presented at the Whitney Biennial. THE COMPANY The Rufus Corporation is a collaborative group of artists, dancers, actors and musicians who create videos, photographs and live events under the direction of Eve Sussman. Eve Sussman founded the company in 2003 during production of 89 seconds at Alcázar. For The Rape of the Sabine Women, founding collaborators Nesbitt Blaisdell, Helen Pickett, Annette Previtti, Walter Sipser, Claudia de Serpa Soares, Jeff Wood, Karen Young and Sofie Zamchick traveled to Greece to begin rehearsals and were joined by Popi Alkouli-Troianou, Kostas Beveratos, Marilisa Chronea, Stergios Ioanou, Grayson Millwood, Katerina Oikonomopoulou, Rosa Prodromou, Antonis Spinoulos, Christos Syrmakezis, and Sotiris Tsakomidis to create the work in improvisation along with the film and television star, Themis Bazaka, and acclaimed vocalist Savina Yannatou. Jonathan Bepler , who also scored 89 seconds at Alcázar, asked musicians Algis Kizys, Eric Hubel, Geoff Gersh, Craig Rodriguez, Scott Moore and Bradford Reed to accompany the group to Greece for production, where they recorded the music live on set. Photographers for the production were Benedikt Partenhiemer, Ricoh Gerbl and Bobby Neel Adams. ACKOWLEDGMENTS The Rape of the Sabine Women is a Rufus Corporation Production generously funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds-Berlin, Hamburger Bahnhof-Berlin, The JF Costopoulos Foundation-Athens, Roebling Hall Gallery-New York, Richard Massey and Ninah & Michael Lynne. Additional co-production support has been provided by: The Nasher Museum of Art, Arario Gallery-Seoul, The New York State Council on the Arts and The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Corporate Sponsorship has been provided by: Panavision-London, HD Cinema, Final Frame-NYC, Ordino Casting Services-Athens, Microtek Gefell-Germany, Apple Computer Inc., DuArt Film & Video, LaCie-USA, Sony Professional Media, Dreamhire LLC, Tekserve, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company-Greece, Merc Clothing-London, Marriot Hotels-Berlin, Blackmagic Design and MAC Cosmetics. For More Information, please contact: Maureen Sullivan Creative Time 212 206 6674 x205 maureens@creativetime.org Catherine Mahoney Rufus Corporation sabineproduction@yahoo.com