FROM CONCEPT TO PERFORMANCE Casting This concept will only work when the audience will be pulled into the story. And this is first and foremost done by very direct and interactive acting. The staging of the piece should therefore be very dynamic. This will require very able and willing singers and dancers that are open to a complete different approach to the acting and staging. The piece has to be bold and full of vigor. So a young cast would be preferable. After all we are at a village of pearl-fishers, and those men are top-fit, sturdy and muscular. This is a real challenge for the casting. Great voices are a must, but great actors with great bodies as well. Leïla is to be a virgin. And a attractive one to boot. It should be a woman that men fight over and... it should be a real sacrifice to keep her a virgen. Otherwise her office diminishes in importance. We should find a -preferably dark-skinned- young woman that can fill the part... AND sing it! Set and Costumes Since the decor must seem simple but involves intricate designing and the stage setting and costumes must evoke a heightened realism akin to what Game of Thrones, Lord of the rings and Harry Potter create: a complete world of its own it needs all to be of very high quality. This version should be rich. Rich in color and texture, no synthetic textiles but exuberantly colored natural fabrics and designs rooted in the dreamlike realm of 19th century exoticism. That’s why I propose Marrit van der Burgt and Karel Spanhak as designers for set and costumes. Marrit has extensively worked with Peter Greenaway with whom she created non existent dreamworlds. She also was the creator of the great productions at the Appel-theater where she proved to be able to heighten style and make it bigger than life. An impression of her work you’ll find at: http://marrit.nl Karel Spanhak is a highly celebrated designer that works all over Europe and has executed more than 300 sets over his lifetime. He is used to deal with enormous projects like the Thunerseespiele, productions for the Volksoper Wien, and the opera Zürich and Sank Gallen. But he has also great knowledge of designing and building sets for smaller traveling productions. It is a real honor that he has pledged to cooperate, since he is a rather much sought after designer. Please visit his site at: http://spanhak.de 23
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