Preview
BIBLE BABES
New Works Calgary
Performed by Das Chicas
Written by Joyce and Quenten Doolittle
Thursday, January 29
Rosza Centre (University of Calgary)
Classical musical theatre, the Bible and wanton vixens – could you ask for anything more?
One of Calgary’s most distinguished dramatist-composer teams, Joyce and Quenten Doolittle, have combined all three in their new work Bible Babes. The pair have re-written the tales of three women of ill repute from the Bible – Eve, Delilah and Jezebel – and this time, we get to hear the women’s side of the story.
The Doolittles wanted to create a theatrical piece that would turn heads. "We have been involved with New Works Calgary, which brings contemporary classical music into Western Canada, and we wanted to bring something fresh and new this year," says Joyce Doolittle. With her husband as composer, she wrote something that, in her words, "resembles opera, but not quite. It is a combination of dramatic monologues and classical music. It’s difficult to categorize."
Bible Babes receives its première next week in a concert performance presented by New Works Calgary.
The Doolittles are quick to point out that the project was inspired by the singer they’ve cast in Bible Babes, Patrice Jegou.
"We saw her in a digital opera by Kenny Doren called Rule Britannia, presented by New Works Calgary last year," says Joyce. "She played eight or 10 characters and we thought she was so good that we wanted to create something just for her."
At the same time as the Doolittles were busy writing and composing, Jegou gathered together her own musical ensemble, Das Chicas, based in Lethbridge. In addition to mezzo-soprano Jegou, it features Chenoa Anderson on flute and Deanna Oye on piano. Bible Babes will be the trio’s debut piece.
Working with an ensemble based outside Calgary left precious little time for rehearsal, requiring a great deal of focus and dedication by all. "We had very little time to actually make sure everything about Bible Babes was working," says Quenten. "It was very difficult getting everybody in the same room with such busy schedules, but we are very pleased with how it all came together."
Why did the Doolittles decide to revisit the stories of Eve, Delilah and Jezebel?
"All of these women were hard done by in the Bible," replies Joyce. "Eve was a woman who was intellectually curious and was banished for it. Delilah was conflicted with her love for her people and her involvement with Samson, and I think she was justified for what she did by betraying him, because Samson was a bully and a braggart – sort of the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the Bible."
Joyce is fully on the side of the notorious Jezebel as well. "For her strength of character and being her own person, Jezebel was called a harlot and destroyed. She was thrown out of the window and eaten by her dogs till there was nothing left but the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet."
The characters have undergone some creative tweaking in this work. "We had to change some things about the women, particularly Delilah," says Joyce. "I didn’t think (the original story) was sexy enough – there needed to be more heat."
At the same time, they’ve made the most of some of the racier references in the Bible. "There is one line… where Samson says to Delilah, ‘Bind me with withes of the willow,’" says Joyce. "It’s not difficult to read what you want into that, so we kept it."
Bible Babes will get a preview in Lethbridge before its performance at the University of Calgary. As part of the Calgary concert, Das Chicas will also be performing new and recent music by Calgary composer Roberta Stephen and Vancouver composer Jocelyn Morlock. |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.