The Guildhall showcases re-form production's adaptation of Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht by going beyond a traditional live performance of the piece to a cross-arts experience with collaborative roots that include students from Guildhall’s music, acting, and technical theatre departments. London-based re-form productions aims to enhance the audience’s experience of this quintessentially romantic piece by putting both performers and audience in the Milton Court’s stunning new Studio Theatre, which will be transformed into a nighttime forest.
London-based re-form productions was founded by Hunter Noack and Sophie Roberts as part of a growing movement of artists seeking to engage with a more diverse audience. Their mission is to creatively unlock historic world events and anniversaries through adventurous theatrical and musical story-telling. Theatre companies like Punchdrunk perform in warehouses and abandoned hotels, while orchestras such as the Britten Sinfonia are noted for bold programming and versatility within the concert hall. re-form’s productions, like “Transfigured Night”, combine the best of these two pioneering contemporary ensembles. Musical, visual and literary works, as well as historical events and personalities are the foundation for their creative performance art that reaches out to a diverse audience, and can be adapted for site specific or traditional venues, or taken on tour.
Schoenberg’s sextet was inspired by Richard Dehmel’s poem Verklärte Nacht; however, rather than musically depict the specific action of the text, he expresses the emotion behind the words and the setting in nature. The poem tells the story of a woman walking in the forest with her lover. She confesses to him she is with child, made pregnant by another man. The man comforts her, forgives her, and ultimately accepts the unborn child as his own transforming the mood of the forest from dark and cold, to a place of joyful shimmering moonlight.
Thespians and audience will be scattered together among the pine trees, all attention focused on the moonlit sextet. Diverse somatic and cerebral stimulation will allow the audience to viscerally connect with Schoenberg’s masterpiece.
DATES & TIMES:
April 24 at 14:00 and 19:30
April 25 at 14:00 and 19:30
VENUE:
Milton Court Studio Theatre, Silk St, London EC2Y 9BH
TICKETS:
FREE – Limited Space
Reserve tickets at TRANSFIGUREDNIGHT.EVENTBRITE.CO.UK
DIRECTOR:
Hunter Noack
MUSICIANS:
Amarins Wierdsma, violin
Henry Tong, violin
Luba Tunnicliffe, viola
May Dolan, viola
Yoanna Prodanova, cello
Thomas Marlin, cello
ACTORS:
Sophie Roberts
Liam Bergin
ARTISTIC PROFESSIONALS:
Anna Driftmier, Set Designer
Jack Weir, Lighting Designer
Martin Wade, Production Manager
John-Paul Bowman, Project Manager
