Local school children
and older people join professional cast for premiere of Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin
Newcastle Northern Stage
Tuesday 24th - Saturday 28th
October 2017
Leading Newcastle based dance theatre company
balletLORENT returns to Northern Stage with the premiere of the classic
fairytale Rumpelstiltskin.
Following
the award winning and critically acclaimed Rapunzel (2012-2015), and Snow White
(2015-2016), balletLORENT present the final part of their trilogy of Brothers
Grimm fairytales. Choreographed and directed by balletLORENT’s Artistic
Director Liv Lorent MBE and retold by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Rumpelstiltskin
is dance theatre for the 21st century audience.
The
professional ensemble will be joined by a cast of North East children aged 4-9
years old, found through creative workshops in six local primary schools and
older people (aged 68+) from local community groups. Liv Lorent explains, “The
children and older people who feature in our production of Rumpelstiltskin add
an authenticity to the fairytale world we are creating. The wide age span -
from 4-79 - of these guest performers comes closer to the reality of the
communities we all inhabit. All of the community cast from the east and west
ends of Newcastle
upon Tyne
have shared their creativity with us with great generosity, and have enhanced
our work with their individuality. Without them, our range of experience is
limited as we are all dance professionals and our bodies are trained in a
certain way. But with our guest cast we can tell stories of humanity with a
deeper truth, and they offer the impressions of what our bodies once were, and
what they may become.”
“I am
loving it! It’s different, it’s something new! When you get to our age, you
need to have something different to do.” Sylvie (participant)
“At the
start [of the workshops] I felt embarrassed but then I put my heart into it. It
was great, thank you!” Year 3 pupil, Knop Law Primary School
Liv Lorent
has been reunited with the team of world renowned collaborators who created
Rapunzel and Snow White: Dame Carol Ann Duffy (Whitbread, T.S. Eliot and Pinter
Prize winner); five time BAFTA nominated composer Murray Gold (Doctor Who);
narrator Ben Crompton (Game of Thrones); BAFTA and Emmy Award winning costume
designer Michele Clapton (Game of Thrones and The Crown); set designer Phil
Eddolls (joint TMA award winner for Improbable’s The Hanging Man); and OBIE and Outer Critics Circle award-winning
lighting designer Malcolm Rippeth.
“It’s a joy
and a thrill to be collaborating once again with Liv Lorent and her creative
team and to be bringing to life another seminal fairytale to family audiences
who love dance or who have yet to discover it.” Carol Ann Duffy, Scenario
Writer (Poet Laureate)
With clever
characterisation, Rumpelstiltskin will celebrate the underdog, the refugee, in
a tale of a man’s desperate longing for love and belonging, set in a rural
world of a shepherd and his daughter. Rumpelstiltskin is performed by eight of
balletLORENT’s core dancers who have been central to the choreographic development
of the fairytales and who have a diverse age range of 22-53 years.
Liv Lorent:
“Rumpelstiltskin is the story of the outsider, shunned for being different, and
the secret power and knowledge he possesses. He is the original super mutant, a
fairytale X-Man. Through the eyes of balletLORENT’s first male protagonist, we
are looking to explore themes of love, obsession, childhood, grief and
reconciliation – a show that is full of beautiful imagery and music and is made
as much for adults as it is for children.”
Co-produced
by Northern Stage and commissioned by Sadler’s Wells.
Tickets:
Tickets are from £10 (Limited availability so
book early!). Children's
tickets are just £10.
Box Office:
0191 230 5151 or online from http://northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/balletlorent-rumpelstiltskin.
Running time: 1hr 50mins (incl. interval)Recommended age: 7+
Relaxed performance: Thu 26, 1pm
Post-show discussion: Thu 26 Oct (afer 6pm show)
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