FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Terra Mysterium Announces its 2011 Winter Gala Benefit with A Special Yuletide Performance of Betwixt & Between
CHICAGO, IL – November 14, 2011. Chicago-based performance collective Terra Mysterium is pleased to announce its upcoming 2011 Winter Gala benefit, showcasing a special winter-themed performance of Betwixt and Between: A Journey into Faery on Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at the Chicago Center for Healing Arts, 1622 West Devon, Chicago, IL. Gala guests will enjoy a silent auction, Faery Feast and other wondrous surprises!
“The Snow Queen version of the show is a retelling of the Scandinavian fairy tale made popular by Hans Christian Anderssen. In our version the story is told by the faery folk themselves,” explains Matthew Ellenwood, Terra Mysterium’s Artistic Director. “It is a highly interactive performance and an especially appropriate story for the winter holidays.” This magical, wintry tapestry is highlighted with original musical works by Terra Mysterium.
The performance begins the moment the guests arrive, as they are greeted and engaged by the faery folk themselves. “All ticketed guests are welcome to enjoy the Faery Feast, which includes several kinds of treats from the Wood Elf, Will-o-the-Wisp, Woodwose, Green Man, Undine and Sprite,” says Amy Christensen, Terra Mysterium performer and benefit coordinator. “Guests can also choose wine service served personally by the fae, with their purchase of Notable or VIP Admissions. The VIP admission includes a souvenir package with gifts from each of the fae.”
In addition, everyone will be treated to an exclusive preview of Terra Mysterium’s 2012 upcoming full-length show, The Alembic, an alchemical Steampunk tale of dark romance and spiritual transformation.
Admission to the Gala is presented at three monetary levels, with increasing benefits offered at each. Seating is limited. To purchase Gala tickets, learn more about Terra Mysterium or to make a donation, please visit www.terramysterium.com.
Terra Mysterium is a Chicago-based collective of musicians, actors, dancers, poets, magicians and performers; creating, producing and performing experiential works of music, theatre and performance art that are rooted in the Earth Mysteries. For more information, visit www.terramysterium.com.
Contact: Matthew Ellenwood, Artistic Director
E-mail: MatthewEllenwood@gmail.com
Phone: 773-616-2706
Press for Finding Eleusis – 2010 Chicago Fringe Festival
"Greek mythology's most captivating tales—a son makes love to his mom then gouges his eyes out, two lovers from warring families off themselves in the name of love—can still be snooze fests. This certainly isn't the case for this contemporary drama about goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Any daydreaming is kept at bay by the cast's well-used bits of profanity, sexual innuendos and a funny Jerry Springer–style talk show scene. As the myth goes, Zeus (the supreme god of Olympus) has Hades (the god of the underworld) abduct his daughter. In turn, Demeter (the goddess of agriculture) makes the earth cold and infertile, until Persephone returns each spring. The actors' casual portrayals and musical accompaniment (even with pitchy vocals) allows the audience members to ponder their own opinions about eternal life, death, fear and change."
—D.L. Hopkins, Time Out Chicago
"Strong female voices predominate, as one would expect, in this revisioning of the story within a contemporary setting: Ruby Sara, who plays Demeter, also wrote the lyrics to the three songs featured, possesses a strong and beautiful alto and an imposing stage presence, which altogether suit the role of this Goddess. Amy Christensen portrays Persephone, transitioning between innocence and intensity with an internal consistency that more than once became the gravitational center of this drama, for me. I saw this production twice, and after one of the shows, she mentioned to me that Finding Eleusis was being presented at roughly the same time of year as the Mysteries themselves had been performed, a detail that showed me how seriously she took her role...
"...Context has much to do with presentation – for its context within an experience-sampling venue within the Chicago Fringe Festival, this performance succeeded very well both as featured entertainment, and as an avenue for contemporary Chicagoans to reconnect with a timeless story. Yet if it were possible to remount this show in an environment supportive of the ritual and esoteric element – such a sacred grove, or an ampitheater – with an audience seeking something of the epoptaia, the condition of 'having seen' the Mystery, which belonged to the initiates of Eleusis – how might it become transformed, in its turn?"
Performance photo by Paul B. Rucker.