Preview- The Waste Land- Shadow Players
16-9-15
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Hong Kong’s Shadow Players has reinvented several classic theatre pieces over the past couple of years. This month they’re bringing us something a little different but which sticks true to their classical vibe. From September 22nd to 27th they’re re-inventing T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land for the stage. T. S. Eliot, was an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic, and is considered one of the twentieth century's major poets.
The Waste Land is considered one of the most influential poems of the twentieth century. The Waste Land was written in the aftermath of WWI by Eliot when he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and while his marriage was failing. It is little wonder that the modern world he envisioned had become broken and spiritually wasted. Not only the world, but the poem itself seems broken and fragmented. Art imitated his life. One of the most striking features of The Waste Land is its fragmentary style; the audience are offered snippets of conversations, voices cut short, small glimpses to people's lives, snippets of images. This performance of the poem attempts to define fragments for the audience. There's a challenge to define when one character is speaking and another fragment is taking place but the cast/production team is ready for the challenge. This isn’t the world debut for the piece, it was presented earlier this year in Australia to rave reviews from The Canberra Times.
“The most important thing we learned from the run in Australia was that The Waste Land (when performed) has a much wider appeal than one might expect. People who had no knowledge of Eliot, and who had very limited experience of poetry at all, found themselves absorbed by it… I cannot say if HK audiences will be any different, only that we'd be delighted if they used similar words as these when they come out of the show,” says Julian Lamb
Mr. Lamb, who is the Artistic Director of the Shadow Players, takes on the lead role in the production accompanied by cellist, David Pereira. David Pereira is one of Australia's leading cellists and has been principal cellist for some of Australia's leading ensembles: Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Periera’s music is integral to the production design. The music will feature passages of improvisation, original composition, and quotes from the work blended with the some of the most important composers of the twentieth century, including Sibelius, Shostakovich, and Schoenberg.
Eliot’s haunting vision of a spiritually barren post-war Europe is brought to life in a performance which draws out the poem’s characters, as well as its lyrical language. Dramatic presentations of The Waste Land are rare since it is often regarded as too difficult to perform, because of the symbolism in the work. According to Professor Lamb, “It contains those two things well suited for the stage: rich poetic language and a wide variety of characters.”
The Shadow Players are very excited to bring the work to Hong Kong and think the work will be particularily well suited for school students, such as secondary and university students, who study Eliot. “ESL audiences will enjoy it! Let's face it, The Waste Land speaks in a language which everyone finds foreign.”
Showtimes are 8pm and 4pm on weekends. The theatre is easily accessed from Kwai Fong MTR. Tickets range from 170-230HKD and can be purchased through URBTIX. More information can be found at The Shadow Players website or through their Facebook page.
The Waste Land is playing at the blackbox at Kwai Tsing Theatre from September 22nd to 27th. For more information, click here.
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