The Apothetae (ApoTheeTay)
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A Theatre Company By Any Other Name...

6/29/2012

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Hey,

Several people have been curious about the name of the company; the pronunciation, the meaning behind it, etc.  On the ABOUT page of this website, I talk about the company's connection to playwright, John Belluso and his play, "The Rules Of Charity."  In the play, the character Monty translates it as, "the place of exposure."  I like this double entendre.  "Exposure" means the act of being uncovered or unprotected from the elements.  It also means the state of being exposed to contact with something.  To reveal, shed light on, make visible, etc., the human impact of the "Disabled Experience" throughout history is a key element to The Apothetae's mission. 

For a more scholarly etymology of the word, I reached out to Bruce Baker, founder and president of Semantic Compaction Systems in Pittsburgh, PA.  He is also the founder of SHOUT, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to study employment issues for people with severe impairments.  He works very closely with augmented communicators, people who can't talk due to severe disability and use assistive devices- AAC users.  I wrote a ten minute play, "French Twist," for the Pittsburgh Employment Conference last year which contained AAC users.  It was the first play ever to feature AAC users speaking in real time.  Here's what Bruce had to say about The Apothetae.  

Your name "TheApothetae" is a stroke of genius.  If people ask you whether it's related to other English words, you could mention "Apostle" -- meaning "sent away."  "Apo" in Greek means "away."  "Thesis" is from a Greek verb meaning "to place or put."  The base form is "tithenai" and one of the participles is "thetae."  An hypothesis is something "put under" something else to support it.  Apothetae means something like "those put aside" or "the place of the put aside."  

How are you pronouncing it?  The "-ae" from classical Latin and Greek is usually pronounced like a long "e" -- "Caesar."  The "e" following "th" is a long "e."  Thus, the most exacting pronunciation in English would be "apōtheetee" with the stress on "-thee."  Of course, all of this is really arcane.  Call it whatever you like.  You are right.  I love the word.


Thank you, Bruce.  I love it to.  I think I'll keep it.  However, we'll pronounce it with a long "A" sound instead of the long "E."

Have a good weekend.  Stay cool.


-Gregg  
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