A thrilling synthesis of speech, song, dance and spectacle!
Thiasos’ adaptation of the Hippolytos places the all-singing all- dancing chorus firmly at the centre of the production where it once was. Euripides’ lyrics are sung in the original Greek, preserving the sound and rhythms of the language, but everything else is challengingly new: a narrator briefly recounts the unfolding of the plot, the characters in the drama—gods and mortals—emerge to act their parts in the style of Balinese Topeng masked dance-drama, and the chorus perform their dances as Jaipongan, a contemporary dance form based on traditional styles from West Java.
Why set an ancient Greek play as Indonesian dance drama?
The parallels between Greek and Indonesian art forms run deep. In both Greek and Indonesian cultures, masked dances often form part of social and religious occasions that arouse crucial emotions in all participants. It is hoped that our version of the Hippolytos will recapture the poetry and musicality of the play and restore the mystery and complexity that is often absent from the stately spoken dramas we have come to accept as the norm for Greek tragedy.
24th – 27th OF FEBRUARY
POST SHOW EVENTS
The directors in Conversation with:
Thursday 25th
FELICIA HUGHES-FREELAND
Film maker & Ethnographer
Friday 26th
EDITH HALL
Author of ‘INTRODUCING THE ANCIENT GREEKS’
@THE COCKPIT
Gateforth Street
London NW8 8EH
Box Office: 020 7258 2925
(10.30am – 6pm, Monday – Friday,
12 noon – 6pm, Saturday)
Relates posts:
LILA BHAWA INDONESIAN DANCE UK – CITY OF LONDON FESTIVAL 2015
PHOTOS: PASAR KAGET – INDONESIAN POP-UP MARKET
PHOTOS: HELLO INDONESIA 2014 TRAFALGAR SQUARE, LONDON
Spencer Lloyd Peet - Writer/Interviewer/Photographer 