At Dallas' Undermain, An Ancient Classic Gets A Trump-Era Update

DALLAS, TX — A Shinto priest was once quizzed about the nature of his religion when a Western sociologist confessed that, after visiting a number of Shinto shrines, he couldn't understand their ideology, or their theology.

"We don't have an ideology," he explained. "We don't have a theology. We dance."

So it is for Danielle Georgiou. In a new work called "Stronger Than Arms," she and partner Justin Locklear reexamine Aeschylus’ classic drama "Seven Against Thebes." Through their unique twist of the kaleidoscope, they're not only reinterpreting the Ancient Greek drama from a new perspective, but using dance to do so.

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"'Seven Against Thebes' has been part of my life since I was 16 or 20," Georgiou explains. "The first time I saw it — and I'm first generation from Cyprus — was with my family in an ancient coliseum on a summer trip before my senior year of high school. Some time during that night while watching it, I realized that I was probably going to be doing theater and dance for the rest of my life."

She says she felt entranced by every aspect of the evening, from the amphitheater to the Mediterranean Sea as a backdrop and Greek performers recreating the work of their ancestors. "I bought a CD of the soundtrack of the show and carried it with me throughout college," she says. "It blew my mind."

Both the reimagining and the original delve into the spiritual and political burdens placed on a chorus of Theban citizens. Generational conflicts of territory and birthright tear at the fabric of the societies around them to set off a tribal warfare that's not unfamiliar today.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful and impactful," muses Georgiou, who directed and choreographed "Stronger Than Arms."

"Then on a trip back in 2017, I saw it again, and I took my (writing and life) partner Justin to see it in the same amphitheater, and he fell in love with it, too. And we began to ask ourselves, 'How cool would it be to do a dance interpretation of this story? To set it in our current time period? The whole idea of being surrounded by a wall and trying to keep outside influences out. And wouldn't it be interesting to shift the focus to the citizens' point of view?"

That's exactly how "Stronger Than Arms" took shape.

According to marketing manager Theresa Webster, "the title stems from the line, 'Fear is stronger than arms,' while the story points to the power of humanity’s worst enemy — unconquerable fear — and reveals that there could be something stronger: the willingness to change. Told through poetic verse, dance, and multi-media, "Stronger Than Arms" examines the universal themes of myth, status, aggression, and fate."

And that isn't the only experimentation going on. Behind the scenes, the Undermain Theatre's producing director, Bruce DuBose, is trying to figure out how the most people can get to share this theatrical experience safely in the era of COVID-19.

"Making the reentry to in-person live performance is a delicate balancing act," he allows. "So, we'll see. We're aware that in the larger community there's a lot of belligerence toward safety protocols, but Dallas also has a microcosm of folks who are more progressive, and they tend to be our audience anyway. So we're doing everything we can to make sure the messaging is out there."

The Undermain will start the run of "Stronger Than Arms" with only three dozen seats sold. "And we wouldn't have to do this if we could require people to show proof of vaccination, but we have attorneys on our board and they're keeping a very close eye on things as they develop. Right now, we're just trying to do everything we can to ensure live performances survive and that people can see them as safely as possible."

Accordingly, the venue is practicing social distancing, and arranges each night's seats according to singles, doubles and people attending in "pods" with others they know well. "We also just started renting a space upstairs to have a beverage, so we're trying to make sure we have thought of everything."

In fact, Webster points out that the performances will determined based on the status of Covid-19. "The health and safety of our audience, cast, crew and staff is our top priority," she maintains. "We’ve made upgrades to our HVAC systems and environment to provide the healthiest atmosphere possible and are taking every precaution to comply with CDC guidelines in keeping everyone safe at our theater during live performances."

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