Of Beowulf, bards, and bar room bros (Taffety Punk style)
Like JRR Tolkien, Seamus Heaney, and countless other saga-spinners and wordsmiths before, Marcus Kyd has long found himself fascinated by, maybe even a little obsessed with, the epic tale of Beowulf. Enough so that this redoubtable, fearless, multi-talented actor-director-producer–one of the founders and longtime company members of Taffety Punk theater ensemble–considered memorizing and reciting the entire text on his own. And soon thought better of it.
However, the notion lingered and the dream never died. Now, in collaboration with director Chris Curtis, Kyd is appearing in a solo adaptation of the iconic account of heroic self-sacrifice–mercifully compressed into a lean 90 minutes, told in bar-room bardic fashion with only the text, a guitar, and a collective act of imagination.
The creative team cites as inspiration a veritable cornucopia of influences and sources including various translations of the original (including the landmark poetic verse account by Seamus Heaney and a celebrated recent feminist retelling by Maria Devhana Headley), a host of folk and pop culture references, epic narratives from Greek and Persian classical traditions, and more. The ballad of John Henry and the steam drill makes an appearance, as do more recent musical touchstones. Also in the mix are stories of real-life heroics and sacrifice such as the famed Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard Eddie Aikau and the Oversteegen sisters, teenagers in the World War 2 Dutch Resistance.
Beowulf’s story remains at the heart of the endeavor though, including all three monsters he faces over the course of his long life. After all, Beowulf provided crucial source material and no little inspiration for Tolkien’s tale of an intrepid band of thieves out to raid a dragon’s hoard and the sweeping saga that ensued, and the creative team notes that they never wanted to lose sight of this fantastical, mythic, metaphorical battle with Things That Go Bump in the Night. Even while also connecting with contemporary reality.
Fresh from several Helen Hayes Awards nominations for last fall’s The Tragedie of Macbeth, Taffety Punk again follows their signature ethos, to make the old new again–unearthing the OG English epic to examine contemporary questions of service and community. This time, a company maybe best-known for highly stylized movement and ensemble-devised works with lots of amplified music takes a turn towards minimalism, embracing the storytelling roots of the original poem. Transforming their home space in the black box at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop into a bar-like environment provides an intimate and fitting setting for the solo retelling.
For more insights into the production, you can hear Marcus Kyd lay out his approach in our conversation here:
Audio PlayerAnd for more details, dates, and tickets, visit http://www.taffetypunk.com
Where: Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003)
When: April 4 – 19, 2025
Price: $20 tickets available at www.taffetypunk.com
