SONGS OF BILITIS
Creative Director
South Coast Repertory • 2013 • Costa Mesa, CA
A poetic and visually rich immersive work commissioned by the Getty Villa. Directed by Sean Cawelti, Songs of Bilitis reimagines ancient texts through shadow, mask, and multimedia design.
REVIEWS
“Director Sean T. Cawelti’s sensuous orchestration of Songs of Bilitis is tasteful, fluid, exciting, and refreshingly respectful of the raw female form.”
“Rogue Artists Ensemble has produced a uniquely theatrical experience that cannot be captured on film and cannot be conveyed in mere words.”
Songs of Bilitis is a sensuous and poetic theatrical experience, commissioned by the Getty Villa and directed by Sean Cawelti. Inspired by Pierre Louÿs’ 1894 book of the same name — a controversial and erotically charged fictional memoir of a young woman in ancient Greece — the production explores themes of identity, artistic awakening, and the blurred line between truth and invention.
As Creative Director, Sean led the development of a rich visual language rooted in immersive staging, lyrical movement, and projection design. The piece layered shadow play, puppetry, mask work, and evocative lighting to build a world that felt simultaneously ancient and mythically modern.
Following its commission and workshop at the Getty Villa, the production premiered at Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles and later toured to South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa.