Hyenas

Set in 1832 Paris during the cholera epidemic and the French republican riots, Hyenas is a gripping theatrical monologue of 22-year-old Théodore-Frédérique Benoît (starring Daniel Pettrow), one condemned to death for the murder of his mother and lover. In his prison cell during his last night before facing execution by the guillotine, he relives the events of the murders and the nightmare of his trial and death sentence, giving birth to more startling and haunting questions than can be answered. Benoît proclaims, “Answers are dangerous, you know.”

In Hyenas, acclaimed French playwright Christian Siméon, winner of the prestigious French Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers’ award for “New Talent in Theatre,” says the unthinkable with uncompromising wit. Hyenas, which first premiered in 1997 at the Dix-Huit Theatre in Paris, ran with rave reviews at the Mylos Theatre in Greece and the Avignon Off Festival in France. French theatre critic Alain Spira called the work “a true masterpiece” and the Le Journal de Théâtre described it as “intriguing, disturbing, violent, a great moment of theatre.” In 2003, Hyenas was translated into English and adapted for American audiences by Paul Verdier, Artistic Director and Founder of Stages Theatre Center in Los Angeles, and ran for 12 weeks at the award-winning theater. The Los Angeles Times described the play as “a fascinating existential showpiece.”

Hyenas contains strong language, adult themes and brief nudity.
Appropriate for Ages 17 and up.

There is an additional performance on Wed June 14, at 8:00.