MEET THE DIRECTOR: LYSISTRATA’S RACHEL TEAGLE

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Rachel Teagle’s love affair with Aristophanes’ Lysistrata began when she played the title role in college. That production focused more on the classic traditions of performance. However, Rachel sensed that there was something more to this pioneering piece of theater. She wanted to see if it worked as a modern piece. It took a few years, but she finally realized her vision in Hole in the Wall’s current production which plays through December 5th.

“This is about aggression vs. cooperation,” said Rachel. “It is about what happens when you listen to people you haven’t listened to before and what possibilities there are outside of the terrible, violent, masculine status quo.”

The current HITW production differs dramatically from Rachel’s college production. For starters, it features a different translation by Sarah Ruden. She worked on the translation while living in South Africa. She felt that the story which focusses on women who survive trauma and war was bigger than the creator.

“In this piece, sex is the only loving action,” said Rachel. “To enjoy the loving, cooperative peace of sex, you need to learn how to cooperate.”

Rachel is a story teller at heart. She is an actor, director and writer. She finds a lot of advantages to telling stories on stage with other people rather than writing for books and movies. Although she has appeared on stage, she prefers being behind the scenes. “I like rehearsing more than performing. I am definitely a director. For me, the joy is in finding it whether on the page, in the rehearsal room or in the audience. I love to play, explore and discover.”