Songs at the Well: Double Edge Theatre

Abstract

Artists and cultures: How do they connect? What does it mean, in an era that has seen both the deconstruction of cultural heritage and its resurgence, to work with one's with a particular heritage? What strategies are most useful: preservation, confrontation, or transformation? Double Edge Theatre of Boston has been involved with these questions for over a decade. Their example contributes to the ongoing debate about the artist's relationship with culture and community, in its aesthetic, political, and economic aspects. Double Edge Theatre was founded in 1982 by its artistic director, Stacy Klein. The company describes itself as a center for the development of living culture, and its work can be regarded as a rare manifestation of third in the United States. The company's early productions were regarded as by the press and public, and ranged from Wendy Kesselman's My Sister in This House (1983) and Had She Spoken by Daina Robins, adapted from Christine Brueckner's If You Had Spoken Desdemona (1984/85), to Susanna Centlivre's A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1985). The feminist label was soon to be confounded, however. A move from conventional rehearsal and production patterns to full-time study and training, and the acquisition of a permanent theatre space, accompanied what appeared to be a major transformation. Double Edge became an ensemble creating original works marked by striking physicality and investment in traditional, frequently Jewish, cultural material. Although Double Edge's long-time performance space is at the Church of St. Luke and St. Margaret in Boston and the company has established many connections with other Boston theatres, it does not depend on the Boston small-theatre market for its audiences and support. In the mid1980s, Double Edge undertook a series of collaborations and training experiences with a number of international artists. These included, among others, Rena Mirecka and Zygmunt Molik of the Teatr Laboratorium,