Waiting for Godot's Veronique Ory

Actress Veronique Ory triumphed as Babe in the Athena Theatre Company's production of Crimes of the Heart in 2003. She is currently at work on their next production, Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot running June 11-19 at The Raven Playhouse in NoHo.

DG: Waiting for Godot is a difficult piece. Why did you choose this particular play at this point in time?
VO: I have wanted to do Waiting for Godot since college. Elizabeth Welsh (co-founder of Athena Theatre) and I became very excited about producing the play because it is such a great piece and because it presented an opportunity to stretch our creative muscles in a new direction. The challenge of working on a Samuel Beckett play is amazingly rewarding to an artist. Due to its difficult nature, we had to find a director (Claire Titelman) who is familiar and comfortable with theatre of the absurd. Beckett's language can be confusing, but with the right director, the story can be painted very clearly for the audience, and the characters become so real and relatable.

DG: I have never seen females portray these roles!
VO: We wanted Vladimir and Estragon, played by Ory, to be female to tell the story in our own way. When Beckett was alive it was impossible to do such an interpretation because he did not want any alterations to the script. I discovered that without making any alterations to the text, I could tell the story of two people waiting to be saved in a different way. It displays that everyone is waiting for something, but from a female perspective.

DG: Describe Athena's origins and your very first production.
VO: Athena Theatre Company was created by Elizabeth Welsh and me in November 2002. Athena Theatre's debut production was Two Encounters, Birdbath, and Ferryboat by Leonard Melfi. These selected one-act plays explore the theme of what it means and what it takes for people to ultimately connect in a large and often isolated world. Written in the 1960's, Melfi is adept at flashing a mirror at human interaction and connectedness that still rings true in today's modern world. The plays ran for six weeks at the Tamarind Theatre in Hollywood.

DG: What is your mission statement?
VO: The specific purpose of Athena Theatre is to provide a supportive and creative environment for artists (actors and the technical crew team), where we take risks, try new things and consider new approaches. To provide theatre we are proud of and passionate about, representing the strength, intelligence, beauty and unique perspective of women in society. Our charitable purpose is to educate through the arts; we are currently looking for interns.

DG: Did you do theatre elsewhere before LA? How would you compare LA to those other venues?
VO: I did theatre in New York before I moved to Los Angeles three years ago. I received my B.A. in Theatre at Russell Sage College where there is a regional theatre on campus, The New York State Theatre Institute. Working in theatre in New York, there was a sense that people were fully committed to it. In Los Angeles, theatre seems to be something that people mostly do on the side.

DG: What is Veronique Ory's goal?
VO: To tap into the community that truly is passionate about creating theatre and to produce wonderful plays. athenatheatre.com for more information.