Mandragora Vulgaris (2004)

Mandragora Vulgaris is a quartet for women clad in tall branching crowns and garments of tangled roots designed by Michael Oberle and Christopher Williams set to both natural insect sounds and Bulgarian folk songs. The work, which includes sprout-like hand-puppets by Williams, draws inspiration from medieval legends of an anthropomorphic plant thought to posses magical properties known as the witches' manikin (or mandrake root) as well as from antique depictions of wild nymphs, amazons, and races of wild women. The work premièred in the Patricia N. Nanon Theater at the Yard in the summer of 2004.

Original Cast:

THE MANDRAKES:
Renée Archibald, Charlotte Gibbons, Jill Locke, & Jessica Lööf

THE YOUNG MAN:
Christopher Williams