Between Nov. 15 and Nov. 18, Oliver Kemeid’s modern interpretation of Virgil’s epic Latin poem The Aeneid was staged in the Black Box. The play was produced by the NYU Abu Dhabi Theater Program. While the original work is a story about the Roman Empire, Kemeid re-imagined The Aeneid to match the turbulence of the world today. Judith Miller, Professor of French at NYUAD, then translated Kemeid’s play from French into English. According to Director Sarah Cameron Sunde, it was the NYUAD theater production that brought the piece “from page to stage.”

Each performance was followed by a discussion. Topics ranged from The Creative Design Process to The Aeneid: From the Students’ Perspectives and Ideas of Home: Climate Change and Migration. Through these talks, the audience had a chance to engage with both the intent of the piece and the actors onstage and offstage.

According to Sunde, the motivation behind the play is strongly rooted in the onset of the Anthropocene, the period of recent irreversible geophysical changes and climate disturbances that have led to the tripling of human displacement and migration. Sunde shared that this new geological epoch prompts us to “question the human fantasy of settling new lands and constant growth.” As such, “it is time to tell classic stories that challenge past assumptions of power and worth.”

“This play is about the precariousness of life. It reminds me to stay present, adaptable and resilient, to take risks and work towards big ideas. It also reminds me that everything is temporary, not only the caterpillar and its cocoon but also civilizations and their foundations. We humans are just part of the ecosystem,” commented Sunde on the broader interpretation of the piece.

This interdependence is signaled throughout the play, such as when student actors dressed in blue sheets roll around on the floor, imitating the movement of waves. The movable pieces of the stage, which are pushed around by these waves, appear almost as tectonic plates, tearing apart people and families that go through their migratory journey in the story. Allusions to permanent strangeness and drift circulate throughout the piece, as the actors’ colorful costumes contrast with the colorless reality that surrounds them. References to multiple countries and cultures near the end of the piece demonstrate how this is not an isolated phenomenon, but one that is relevant all around the globe.

Tzy Jiun, Class of 2020, one of the performers in the play, said that she was struck by the move against anthropocentrism and the portrayal of Mother Nature as an important figure in the characters’ lives.

Speaking about the production process behind the play, Jiun described it as intensive.

“By the second or third rehearsal we were already up on our feet playing the scenes out. The movement work demanded a lot of our focus and energy, and a few people got injured in the process,” she recalled.

The Arts Center scheduled two more performances to take place during the fall semester: 600 Highwaymen - The Fever, running from Nov. 24 to 28, and Hekayah/The Story, in honor of UAE National Day, showing on Dec. 5.