Herein lies the history and works of Theatre Labyrinth (1995-2000) and Wishhounds (2000-2002).

lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate…

The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a sacred text traditionally read aloud at the time of a Tibetan Buddhist’s death. It is believed that the words guide the deceased through the dangerous transitional realm, or bardo, where the soul must seek enlightenment or return once again to the cycle of rebirth.

In this collaboration between Cleveland Public Theatre and Wishhounds, the remarkable Tibetan art of dying leaps to life as an ecstatic visual and choral epic for the 21st century. Blue Sky Transmission tells the story of Alison, a dedicated lawyer and mother, whose overwhelming to-do list will never be be completed due to the unscheduled interruption of her own death. Unwilling to accept this fact she continues in her worldly ways, demanding hearings with otherworldly beings—frightening and sublime, caustic and comical. Each appears to be expecting her, with a message she’d rather not hear. Guided by a luminous escort she concedes to seek the path that will lead her out of these deliberations. At every step she must confront her habitual reactions of anger, fear, and desire which cloud the hidden radiance of her true life.

Blue Sky Transmission premiered at CPT on September 13, 2002 and moved to the LaMaMa Annex in New York in December. The production was reviewed in American Theatre Magazine (December 2002) and featured in Theatre Forum (TF23 Summer/Fall 2003).

CREDITS

Conceived and directed by Raymond Bobgan with original music by Halim El-Dabh

Assistant Director: Deirdre Lauer

Music Director: Karin Randoja

Performed by Lisa Black, Tracy Broyles, Kishiko Hasegawa, Holly Holsinger, Brett Keyser, Amy Kristina, Karin Randoja, Sophia Skiles, Rebecca Spencer, and Chi-wang Yang

Dramaturg: Lisa Wolford Wylam; Documenting Dramaturg: Kara Reilly

Contributing Playwrights: Mike Geither, Patricia Harusame Leebove, and Ray McNiece

Lighting Design: Trad A Burns; ALD: Chris Lesko

Set Design: Michael Guy-James; ASD: Tracy Broyles

Costume Design: Karen Young; ACD: Dana Romeo; Intern: Katherine Jernejec

Sound Design: Jordan Davis and Joel Jacobson

Graphic Design: Brett Keyser

Stage Manager: Maura Haas; ASM: Joan Burke

CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE

Executive Director James Levin

Artistic Director Randy Rollison

General Manager Deirdre Lauer

Associate Producer Denis Griesmer

PROJECT SUPPORT

The Rockefeller MAP Fund, The National Endowment for the Arts, Theatre Communications Group with the Pew Charitable Trusts, The Kulas Foundation, The Ohio Arts Council, The Ohio Humanities Council, The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, Community Shares, Northern Ohio Live, The Cleveland Free Times, Cleveland.com, WCPN-WVIZ

The first Wishhounds creation especially for younger audiences is the story of Ewa, a magician’s apprentice who tires of her servitude and embarks on a journey of adventure. The many obstacles she must overcome test the power of her imagination and attest to the power of love.

Commissioned by Cleveland Public Theatre

Presented at CPT in December 2001

Story and direction by Raymond Bobgan

Created and performed by Raymond Bobgan, Tracy Broyles, Holly Holsinger, Brett Keyser, and Rebecca Spencer

An unorthodox book leads Talia, a young historian, to the shop of an eccentric antiquarian and his spinster sisters. Once inside she finds she cannot leave, and is drawn into a time-web of ritual re-enactments that rattle her conception of America’s beginnings. Spun from the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the founding fathers, with evocative physicality and haunting folk melodies, The Hidden Twin is a striking theatrical double-take on early American history.

The show was performed at Pilgrim Church in Cleveland, The NACL Catskill Festival of New Theatre, and as a featured production at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, where The Hidden Twin was fittingly laid to rest in a final performance at Christ Church, September 9, 2001.

Created by Wishhounds core collaborators Raymond Bobgan (director), Tracy Broyles, Holly Holsinger, Brett Keyser, and Rebecca Spencer, with project artists Thom Bartscherer (dramaturg), Kristie Lang, and Mariah Sage Leeds.

Inspired by The Golden Ass and other writings by Lucius Apuleius, Transformations of Lucius is the tale of a man whose attempt at spiritual transformation goes horribly awry, leaving him trapped in the body of a donkey. Through humor and intense action the play confronts the desire for spirituality in the wake of “God’s death”, and the foibles of many modern spirituality movements.

Directed by Raymond Bobgan

Performed by Holly Holsinger, Brett Keyser, and Jane Wells

Presented at Pilgrim Church in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood

*v2 is a reworking of Theatre Labyrinth’s 1995 version of Transformations of Lucius.

Fragments of a Lost Apocalypse was an outdoor performance based upon the anthropological reconstructions by Jonathan Blake of the ritual practices of the Lumaca. It was presented in Cleveland, in and around Lincoln Park, in conjunction with the Tremont Arts Festival in 1999.

Directed by Raymond Bobgan, Fragments featured core collaborators Holly Holsinger and Brett Keyser with a host of guest performers: Tracy Broyles, Ted Enoch, Mike Geither, Denis Griesmer, Michael Jantz, Liz Rucker, and Rebecca Spencer.