Rappaccini’s Daughter

The Octopus’ first project _Rappaccini’s Daughter_ was an interpretation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1846 short story, told through puppetry, mask and new music. With this piece, The Octopus Ensemble began to explore the emotional and psychological structures encoded within the scientific method. Rappaccini’s Daughter described the human cost of the clash between innovation and convention, evoking the dystopic anxiety associated with the industrial revolution in the 19th century.

The Octopus' _Rappaccini’s Daughter_ revolves around a scientist whose greatest experiment has just resulted in his daughter’s death. Desperate and stunned, forced to abandon his habitual detachment, the scientist becomes trapped in a memory of the tragedy.
As Doctor Rappaccini reenters the past, the theatrical perspective also shifts, bringing the audience into a private garden laboratory where his experiments unfold again. Rappaccini watches as his past is brought to life through tabletop puppetry, shadow and mask.

We see a lonely young woman confined in the garden. Raised with the poisonous plants of her father’s research, her very breath has become deadly. Her father's embittered rival Dr. Baglioni lurks outside the garden walls, waiting for a chance to strike out at his enemy.
This precarious equilibrium is destroyed when a young man finds his way into Rappaccini’s garden and into his daughter’s heart.  Soon, the young lovers become ensnared in the tragedy of Rappaccini’s pitiless experiment and the machinations of Doctor Baglioni's revenge.

A 16-minute workshop version of Rappaccini’s Daughter premiered  at Chashama / 217 E 42nd Street on September 4, 2004.  The piece was also showcased six weeks later, at the Jim Henson Company Carriage House PATCH Series. At the conclusion of a workshop residency at The Chocolate Factory Theater, a new and improved Rappaccini's Daughter was performed at the Fresh Meat Festival.