ARTISTIC STATEMENT

A desk, a chair, a microphone and one female body tell a modern-day story of transformation. What starts as a tale of a timid grad student upends itself and explodes, as actor Sarah Baskin dynamically morphs into gods, goddesses, boyfriends, girlfriends, tricksters and fiends, and lighting and sound cues transport us from a classroom to an Ovidian field, to everywhere in between.

SYNOPSIS

Myrrha, a grad student in the classics, grapples with the fifty sexual assaults in Ovid's Metamorphoses. When her professor profoundly misunderstands her, Myrrha pushes him, and suddenly, like the characters in Metamorphoses, he is changed into a version of Myrrha. Both characters find themselves in an Ovidian landscape where transformation is a magical and terrifying confrontation with their own gender, sexuality, and desire.

INSPIRATION

A Poem and Mistake is inspired by our work with Stephanie McCarter, award-winning translator of Metamorphoses (New Yorker Best Books of 2022) and the #metoo movement.

Team

Cheri Magid (writer) writes for theatre, television, film and opera. Her plays have been seen in New York at Primary Stages, New Georges, The New Group, The Women’s Project and Rattlestick, regionally in the US at South Coast Rep, People’s Light and… — **Cheri Magid** (writer) writes for theatre, television, film and opera. Her plays have been seen in New York at Primary Stages, New Georges, The New Group, The Women’s Project and Rattlestick, regionally in the US at South Coast Rep, People’s Light and Theatre Company, The Road Theatre Company and Cincinnati Playhouse among others. Her opera Penelope and the Geese, for which she wrote the libretto, will have performances in October 2021 at UNAM’s El Aleph Festival in Mexico City. The opera, which is composed by Milica Paranosic, has been developed at artistic residencies at Sewanee University of the South (where Cheri was the Tennessee Williams Playwright-in-Residence) and the University of Delaware (where she was the first Susan P. Stroman Visiting Playwright), and has been awarded grants from Opera America, New Music USA and the Society of Classical Studies. BBC Radio 4 recently interviewed Cheri about A Poem and a Mistake for the series Modern Metamorphoses. She is currently writing a podcast, The Classics for Sarah Jessica Parker’s company and Audible UK. Cheri wrote for the Emmy-award-winning children’s television show Arthur and is an Assistant Arts Professor in Dramatic Writing at New York University.

Megan Riordan (producer) is an award-winning theatremaker and producer nomadically creating innovative work across the USA and Ireland. Recent projects include producing the immersive biographical site-specific Only Miracles at Tulane University, creating and performing the character of The Viatrix at the Cracked Lips Cabaret for the Beyond the Pale festival in County Wicklow, and leading numerous activations for Live Nation at music festivals including Austin City Limits and EDC Las Vegas. She also recently received a Certification of Professional Achievement in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University.

Originally from Montreal, Sarah Baskin (Myrrha, collaborator) is a New York based actor committed to developing new work for the stage and screen. In theatre, Sarah has performed Off- Broadway (Roundabout, Urban Stages, 59E59+), Regionally (Portland Center Stage, American Repertory Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre +), and with several downtown theatre companies. Recent TV/ Film credits include “The Equalizer” (NBC, opposite Queen Latifah), “Gossip Girl Reboot” (HBO Max), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon), and several Independent films. Sarah recently directed her first short film, Donut Chase, which has just completed post production. Her second short, Les Calins Cheap, which Sarah co-adapted and will direct and act in, is set to shoot in Montreal in October 2021. Sarah is a company member of The Actors Center, Subway Token Films, Virago. BA: Vassar College; MFA: American Repertory Theatre /Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard University. For more: sarahbaskin.com — Originally from Montreal, **Sarah Baskin** (Myrrha, collaborator) is a New York based actor committed to developing new work for the stage and screen. In theatre, Sarah has performed Off- Broadway (Roundabout, Urban Stages, 59E59+), Regionally (Portland Center Stage, American Repertory Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre +), and with several downtown theatre companies. Recent TV/ Film credits include “The Equalizer” (NBC, opposite Queen Latifah), “Gossip Girl Reboot” (HBO Max), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon), and several Independent films. Sarah recently directed her first short film, Donut Chase, which has just completed post production. Her second short, Les Calins Cheap, which Sarah co-adapted and will direct and act in, is set to shoot in Montreal in October 2021. Sarah is a company member of The Actors Center, Subway Token Films, Virago. BA: Vassar College; MFA: American Repertory Theatre /Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard University. For more: sarahbaskin.com

Willow Funkhouser (Assistant Director) is a Brooklyn based director and intimacy choreographer. Select NYC theatre credits include The Song of Bernadette workshop (Lea Salonga, Alice Ripley, dir. Christopher Gatelli), ¡Americano! (New World Stages), and works developed and performed at The Tank, 938 Collective, and New Relic Theatre. She has served as the intimacy coordinator for dozens of short films. She is a member of the literary management team at Primary Stages. Willow holds a degree in Drama from Syracuse University where she developed a course of study in intimacy choreography alongside directing.