Production Language English
Country of Origin Denmark
Description Conceived by Danish director Kirsten Dehlholm as a hypnotic collage of theatrical phenomena, Hotel Pro Forma's American debut with OPERATION: ORFEO commands attention through a series of visually stunning dramatic contrasts that reveal the myth of Orpheus at its most profound, sensory level. Light and dark, movement and stillness, sound and silence (life and death) are as precisely structured as the formal elements in a cubist painting.
This Orfeo is not a narrative reading of the ancient tale but a Robert Wilson-esque reimagining defined by light and music, and symbolized by the huge white staircase that dominates centerstage. As the action moves from the darkness of Hades to the full illumination of love triumphant, a lone dancer descends and ascends the stark incline. Simultaneously, an a cappella chorus of eloquently gesturing performers elaborates an adventurous score culled from three disparate sources: John Cage (who died shortly after the project's inception), contemporary Danish composer Bo Holten, and the signature Gluck aria "Che faro senza Eurydice."
"Audiences were dumbfounded by the physical beauty of this work… it took me to the very timeless core of the legend - a cache of wisdom no words could describe" (Sydney Morning Herald).
Identifier 1999f.00675
