At 8:01 p.m. on May 4th, 2015 we performed a site responsive theatre event of Sophocles’ Sinon (using the textual fragments that have survived) in the Emeryville Mudflats: adjacent to the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge.
based on Sophocles’ fragments
adapted and directed by Jamie Lyons
performed by Todd Pivetti
The Play…
left behind by the departing Greeks
Sinon
pretending to be a companion of Palamedes
whom the Greeks sacrificed
wins the confidence of the Trojans
convincing them the Wooden Horse
is merely an offering to Athena
yet – if the Trojans destroy it
the goddess will punish them
if they bring it within the city walls
Troy will one day invade Greece
and enjoy a great triumph
only four individual words remain from Sophocles‘ play
A Site Specific theatrical performance of Sophocles Sinon on the Emeryville Mudflats
Sinon
SOPHOCLES’ SINON AT THE EMERYVILLE MUDFLATS
The Location…
The debris art on the Emeryville Mudflats
first appeared in the early 1960s
among the memorable sculptures:
Medfly Man waving from a giant chair.
Heffalumps
Prima ballerinas
The Driftwood Five playing flotsam and jetsam
a full size train
the Red Baron frozen in flight
dogfighting with the Sopwith Camel,
a huge Viking,
and a boy mummy
steering an Egyptian canoe
with a gold casket strapped to the deck
Yet, this shoreline is home to 90 species of birds
such as the clapper rail
barn swallow
and black phoebe
In 1998 Caltrans used a helicopter
to haul about 80 Dumpsters full of art/trash
from the mudflats
including…
plastic and glass bottles
foam
rotting wood ties
utility poles treated with creosote
and the ubiquitous shopping carts.
Today
the artwork is gone
maybe an occasional rogue piece appears
the driftwood and trash
continues to wash up on shore
Collaborators…
Todd Pivetti performed the role of Sinon
nice horse. the photos make it look bigger than it seems in the video.
who is leaving the trojan horse? and whom is Sinon convincing to receive it out in those mudflats?
acceptance of pollution by a shore… you have me thinking.
The Greeks built the horse
and left it on the beach
(of course all the heros are hiding inside of it)
while their ships sailed off
Sinon is the one greek who is left behind
his job is to convince the tojans
to bring it with their city walls
so the heros (inside the horse)
can sneak out and attack.
the scene shows Sinon
after the ships have sailed away
and as the Trojans are approaching
only four words of the orginal text remain
“sinon”, “liar”, “horse”, and “trembling”