metamorphosis - Ashmont Media

Presents
METAMORPHOSIS
A Vesturport Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Production of
Franz Kafka’s Novella
ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Press Release: Metamorphosis
Welcome to ArtsEmerson: Letter from Rob Orchard
Envisioning ArtsEmerson
Production Credits
High-Resolution Images
Reviews
Useful Links
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joyce Linehan 617-298-0200, [email protected]
ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage presents
METAMORPHOSIS
A Vesturport Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Production of
Franz Kafka’s Novella
Featuring Music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Feb. 27 – March 3, 2013
High resolution photos available at https://artsemerson.org/Online/presskit
Press night is Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Please reply with RSVP.
(BOSTON) The third season of acclaimed international theatre programming by ArtsEmerson: The World
On Stage continues with a Vesturport Theatre (Iceland) and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre (London)
production of Metamorphosis. Performances take place Feb. 27 – March 3, 2013 at The Paramount
Center Mainstage (559 Washington St. in Boston’s Theatre District). Tickets, from $25 –$75, are on sale
now at www.artsemerson.org or by phone at 617-824-8400.
Kafka’s terrifying but bizarrely comic story bursts onto the stage in a theatrically explosive new version
by Artistic Director David Farr (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre) and actor/director Gisli Örn Gardarsson of
Vesturport. The ordinary, unremarkable life of the Samsa family is turned upside down when their son,
Gregor, the sole provider for the family, emerges one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed
into a gigantic insect. His family’s feelings of revulsion turn to resentment with horrifying results. The
production’s stunning design keeps the insect permanently visible in a topsy-turvy upstairs room,
contorting to the sounds of his family’s betrayal and swinging from the rafters, as in a veritable
gymnasium. It combines breathtaking physicality and daring aerial action as the recently transformed
Gregor lithely negotiates the gravity-defying split level set. Is it domestic tragedy or a metaphor for
totalitarian brutality? Either way, Metamorphosis is a disturbing story – fantastic and horrific;
surprisingly funny and very sad. It is about human nature, relationships between people, and reactions
to extreme circumstances. The aerial physicality seems a match made in heaven for Kafka’s hellish
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creation. With evocative original music composed by world-renowned musician and lyricist Nick Cave
and long-time collaborator Warren Ellis from The Bad Seeds, the music emphasizes Kafka’s dream-like
vision and turns it into an electrifying reality.
“The triumph of the production is that it uses physical ingenuity to get to the tragic heart of Kafka’s
fable.” - The Guardian
“It’s grimly disturbing, but illuminated by such brilliant theatricality that it’s impossible to tear your eyes
away. Potent, startling, visceral and thoughtful.” - The Times of London
”When Cave’s famous baritone emerges in the twisted euphoric final scene, it marks the climax of truly
special night of theatre” - Time Out
”Thanks to this team, it is very possibly, the finest, highest expression of theatre to which I´ve yet born
witness”- Australian Stage
Founded by 13 artists in 2001, Iceland-based Vesturport Theatre rose to international prominence when
their Romeo & Juliet became a hit first at the Young Vic and later the West End in London. In April 2011,
Vesturport was awarded the Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities XII in St. Petersburg
where Faust and Metamorphosis were performed in connection with the award ceremony.
The Lyric Hammersmith is a theatre in London built in 1895, which takes pride in its original,
"groundbreaking" productions. It has two main performance areas: the Main House, a 550-seat 19thcentury auditorium maintaining the original design which hosts its main productions; and the 120seat Studio, which houses smaller productions by up-and-coming companies.
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Feb. 27—March 3, 2013
Metamorphosis
Vesturport Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
By Franz Kafka
Adapted and directed by Gisli Örn Gardarsson and David Farr
Music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Set Design by Borkur Jonsson
Paramount Center Mainstage
Running Time: 85 minutes with no intermission
Recommended for ages 12 and up
Performances:
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Wednesday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March. 1, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 2, 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 2, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m.
About ArtsEmerson
ArtsEmerson was established by Emerson College to program the beautifully restored 590-seat
Paramount Mainstage; the versatile, intimate Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre (“The Jackie”), which
can seat up to 150 people; the state-of-the-art 170-seat Bright Family Screening Room (all located within
the new Paramount Center, a cornerstone in the revitalization of downtown Boston); and the beloved,
historic 1,186-seat Cutler Majestic Theatre in the heart of the Theatre District, fully restored by Emerson
in 2003. Under the leadership of Rob Orchard, ArtsEmerson gives Boston audiences a new level of
cultural choice, bringing professional American and international work to its four distinct venues. In
addition to its acclaimed theatre works, ArtsEmerson presents adventurous, independent and repertory
films on weekends, and offers a diverse music program including cutting edge indie rock and world
music. For more information, visit artsemerson.org.
About Emerson College
Located in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s
Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world
through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The
College has 3,660 undergraduates and 829 graduate students from across the United States and 50
countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more
than 80 student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its study and internship
programs in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic.
The College has an active network of 32,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in communication
and the arts. For more information, visit www.emerson.edu.
-30On sale now at ArtsEmerson:
January 29—February 10, 2013, THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS – Carlo Goldoni, Paramount Center
Mainstage
February 15 – 16, 2013, TNT Festival: AMERICAN UTOPIAS – Mike Daisey, Paramount Center Mainstage
February 22 – 23, 2013, TNT Festival: BIRTH BREATH BRIDE ELIZABETH – Sleeping Weazel, Jackie
Liebergott Black Box, Paramount Center
Feb. 20 – 23, 2013, TNT Festival: VISION DISTURBANCE – New York City Players, Paramount Center
Mainstage
February 21 – 24, 2013, TNT Festival: BLOOD PLAY – The Debate Society, Jackie Liebergott Black Box,
Paramount Center
Feb. 24, 2013, TNT Festival: SPRING TRAINING – UNIVERSES, Workshop Presentation, Paramount
Center Mainstage
Feb. 22 – 24, 2013, TNT Festival: A (radically condensed and expanded) SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I’LL
NEVER DO AGAIN after David Foster Wallace – Daniel Fish, Studio 7, Paramount Center
February 27—March 3, 2013, METAMORPHOSIS – Vesturport Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre,
Paramount Center Mainstage
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March 22—24, 2013, EMERGENCY – Daniel Beaty, Cutler Majestic Theatre
April 3—7, 2013, NEVA – Guillermo Calderón, Jackie Liebergott Black Box, Paramount Center
April 17—21, 2013, TROJAN WOMEN – SITI Company, Paramount Center Mainstage
April 27—May 4, 2013, AN ILIAD – Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, Paramount Center Mainstage
May 14—19, 2013, TAPPIN’ THRU LIFE: AN EVENING WITH MAURICE HINES, Cutler Majestic Theatre
A complete list of scheduled screenings in the Bright Family Screening Room is available at
http://bit.ly/aecinema. Film programming takes place weekends, from September to May.
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Welcome to ArtsEmerson:
The World On Stage
Greetings in these opening months of the New Year. 2012 was a
good year for ArtsEmerson thanks to your loyalty and encouragement.
As a thank you gift, our opening production in 2013 is an adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters created by two
masters of the form—adaptor/director Christopher Bayes and
adaptor/actor Steven Epp. The form is commedia dell’arte with
roots in Italian improvised performance where stock characters
skewered contemporary issues and local figures in a burst of satire
and hilarity. I count myself among those who think this is one of the most difficult forms
to adapt. You need to find appropriate contemporary references and inject an avalanche
of exquisite, exacting comic timing while simultaneously making it all feel highly
improvised and free. This production comes to us after originating at the Yale Repertory
Theatre with a stop at The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC and on the
heels of an extended run at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Although there may be
a chill in the outside air, inside these artists will exercise humor molecules you never
thought you had and keep you warm and smiling right through the winter.
Next up (although not covered in this program) is our first The Next Thing (TNT)
Festival—a combustible combination of theatre, film, live-streamed events, music
and workshops from February 15th to the 24th, providing audiences with an
unprecedented opportunity for a deep dive into the world of contemporary ensemble
performance. Controversial monologist Mike Daisey will kick off TNT with his
latest work, American Utopias. Altogether, the festival covers ten days with over 20
different events (some in multiple performances) all taking place in the warmth of
the Paramount Center. Gather with a community of like-minded adventurers,
experience performance throughout the day, have a drink and compare notes.
Reykjavik, Iceland is home to one of the world’s most distinctive and inventive
performance ensembles, Vesturport Theatre. Not unlike The Servant of Two Masters,
Vesturport’s Metamorphosis is adapted and directed by both the central performer,
Gísli Örn Gardarsson, and the director, David Farr. Here we have a version of Kafka’s
gripping story of domestic routine interrupted by a transformation you’ll not soon
forget. Images from this production which I first saw in 2010 still linger and the
evolution of real to surreal to transcendence is a rare experience in the theatre.
We call ourselves ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage and we value your friendship.
Please also consider making 2013, our third season, a year when we build our
philanthropic base to higher levels and ensure that Boston for the first time continues
to be a center for international performance and creativity. Thank you.
Rob Orchard, Executive Director
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Envisioning ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage
ArtsEmerson opened in the fall of 2010 with two central commitments: 1) to expand Boston’s cultural
landscape by giving audiences the opportunity to experience work from across this country and around
the world that adds to the cultural choices for the community, and 2) to support the development of new
work through selected multi-year commitments to artists, ensembles and world-renowned institutions.
At the heart of its mission, ArtsEmerson seeks to redefine the relationship between artist and audience
and the impact of theatre on the community. Through performance programs, ongoing artist residencies
and repeated engagements with ensembles, audiences see how work evolves over time and as a result
connect to the artists’ deeper ambitions and process. This investment not only strengthens the bond
between artists and audiences, but allows for a highly interactive exchange that helps to realize the full
potential of the arts in the life and character of the city.
ROB ORCHARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
In October 2009, theatre producer and educator Rob Orchard became
Emerson College’s first Executive Director for the Arts and Stephen G.
Langley Chair in Theater Management and Production. Orchard was
Managing Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre and School of Drama,
where he also served as associate professor and co-chair of the MFA
Theatre Administration Program. Following his time at Yale, Orchard was
the Founding Managing Director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)
and subsequently Executive Director, and was the architect for the A.R.T.
training Institute and its relationship with the Moscow Art Theatre School,
as well as Director of the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard. At the A.R.T. he
produced more than 200 works (the vast majority of which were premieres),
and worked with many of the world’s most respected directors, playwrights
and composers. Orchard has served as chairman of both the Theatre and
the Opera/Musical Theatre Panels at the National Endowment for the Arts,
on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Arts Alliance, and
as a trustee of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), among others. In 2000,
Orchard received the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence. He is
currently on the board of the Boston Arts Academy.
DAVID DOWER, DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PROGRAMS
Before joining ArtsEmerson in the spring of 2012, David Dower spent six
seasons as Associate Artistic Director at Arena Stage, where he directed
the Artistic Development team and founded the American Voices New Play
Institute (AVNPI), the precursor to The Center for the Theater Commons
now located at Emerson College. He served as the Artistic Producer on
Arena’s offerings from 2007–2011, including the Tony/Pulitzer-winning Next
to Normal. Prior to joining Arena he was the founding Artistic Director of
The Z Space (a theatre development center focused on new plays) and
a founder of its predecessor, the producing ensemble The Z Collective, both
in San Francisco. He has directed plays around the country, including at
Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle’s Intiman, and dozens
of world premiere productions in the Bay Area. You can follow David on
Twitter (@ddower).
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Vesturport Theatre
Vesturport Theatre was founded in 2001 by, among others, Gísli Örn Gardarsson,
Víkingur Kristjánsson, Ingvar Sigurdsson and Björn Helgason and quickly established itself
as one of Iceland’s and Europe’s most inventive award-winning theatre and film companies.
Vesturport’s productions include Romeo and Juliet, Woyzeck, DubbleDusch, Love the Musical
and Metamorphosis. Vesturport has produced three feature films: Children, Parents and
Brim (based on Vesturport’s play of the same title). In 2011, the company received the
prestigious Europe Theatre Prize; past honorees have included Peter Brook, Pina Bausch,
Robert Lepage and Harold Pinter.
In 2006, Metamorphosis was given life through David Farr and the Lyric Hammersmith
in London. Co-directed and adapted by Gísli and David it became a Lyric-Vesturport coproduction. For the second time, music was created by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Since
the premiere at the Lyric Hammersmith in September 2006 the production has traveled to
over 20 cities in five continents.
For more information, please visit vesturport.com.
US Representation
Rena Shagan Associates, Inc.
www.shaganarts.com
[email protected]
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
The Lyric Hammersmith is a theatre that celebrates the theatrical. We aim to create
groundbreaking work that moves beyond conventional and naturalistic forms of theatre to
explore the full possibility of the theatrical experience. In a world of digital and online
communication, we believe that the immediacy of the live theatrical experience has never
been more precious or more powerful.
Collaboration is at the heart of our work. We invite the most exciting and audacious
artists from many different artistic disciplines including writers, directors, musicians,
actors, dancers, puppeteers, circus, video and visual artists to work together to tell stories
that resonate with a modern urban audience. We are hugely accessible, making work for as
many people from as many parts of society as possible, with some of the lowest ticket
prices in London. The principle of diversity is at the forefront of everything we do. Diversity
of form, diversity of content, diversity of audience.
Integral to our work on stage is our commitment to providing opportunities for young
people to develop their personal, social, educational and creative potential. We deliver a
comprehensive program of activities linked to our productions, which are aimed at helping
schools and colleges to deliver the National Curriculum. We also run a wide-ranging
program of activities outside school hours for young West Londoners from all backgrounds,
which help them to learn new skills, make new friends, gain qualifications and work
experience.
The Lyric Hammersmith stands proudly at the vanguard of modern theatre. At the
heart of our work is a focus on the creative development of the individual, from artists to
audiences, all in the passionate belief that theatre can change people’s lives.
http://www.lyric.co.uk/
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Who Are The Real Vermin?
By Andrea Gordillo
Emerson BFA Acting ’14/Dramaturgy and Outreach Assistant
In 1971, Stanford psychology professor Phillip Zimbardo randomly selected 24 white
male students of the same age for an experiment, arbitrarily assigned each a role of
“prisoner” or “guard,” and placed them in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford
psychology building. In the course of six days, the “guards” were transformed from
decent, average students to power-hungry authoritarians who subjected the “prisoners”
to psychological torture.
How did these seemingly normal, well-intentioned human beings find it acceptable to
traumatize their fellow peers—to abuse them to the point of mental breakdowns? After
all, they knew that their roles of “guard” and “prisoner” were assigned entirely by
chance—before the experiment, they were all equal.
I find this vicious and terrifying side of human nature fascinating. Franz Kafka
beautifully and tragically illustrates this in his famed novel, The Metamorphosis. When
Gregor Samsa wakes up suddenly one morning to find that he has been transformed into
a monstrous insect, his family turns their backs on him. Embarrassed and disgusted, at
first they merely ignore him. But eventually they grow increasingly violent in how they
treat Gregor, their own brother and son.
Gregor is not the only one who transforms in startling and horrific ways. Just as the
students turned into cruel guards who abused the “prisoners,” so too does Gregor’s
family, turning from loving to torturing him by ignoring him, exiling him to the confines of
his room, cringing in his presence, and even resorting to physical violence. In my opinion,
this is worse than the actions of the students in Zimbardo’s experiment, who had no
significant emotional connection to each other.
Dehumanization is the common denominator between Zimbardo’s experiment and
Kafka’s story, acting as a catalyst for such despicable behavior. The “guards,” desperate
to exercise power over the “prisoners,” stripped them of their human identity—
“prisoners” were forced to repeat numbers assigned to them until they were imprinted in
their minds and forced to wear paper bags on their heads. Then it was easy to deny these
non-humans proper sanitary conditions, fire at them with fire extinguishers and more.
Gregor’s dehumanization takes a more literal form. Perhaps the demoralizing effects of
his dead-end, monotonous, demanding job at the factory slowly stripped him of his
humanity until one day he woke up as something subhuman. Unable to communicate with
his family, they in turn become unwilling to glimpse the bit of humanity he holds inside.
He becomes to them only what they can see with their eyes: a monstrous bug.
The “guards” were pressured by the need to assert their authority and feel superior;
Gregor’s family, by society and the fear of being seen as different or inferior. Both blamed,
ostracized and abused the seemingly lower, weaker party. If this could happen to normal
people like Stanford students or a poor family, we certainly are not immune to it.
But I think these stories also teach us a lesson of compassion—of seeing the humanity
in things and people completely unrecognizable to us. As we seek power, wealth, praise, it
is all too easy to forget the affect we have on others. Even if we cannot relate to them,
when we cease to view our neighbors as people with actual feelings, thoughts, flaws,
hopes and dreams, we lose a bit of humanity ourselves. Gregor may have physically
become something subhuman—a literal manifestation of a monster—but his family’s own
transformation begs the question: who are the real vermin?
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About the Artists
GÍSLI ÖRN GARDARSSON (Gregor
INGVAR E. SIGURDSSON (Herman)
Samsa/Co-Writer/Co-Director). Born in Iceland
and raised in Norway, Gísli Örn Gardarsson
attended the Icelandic Academy of the Arts,
where in his last year (2001), he co-founded
Vesturport Theatre. Gardarsson made his debut
as a director with his circus-inspired version of
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with
Gardarsson in the role of Romeo, which premiered at the Reykjavik City Theatre in
November 2002, and has been performed in
London at the Young Vic Theatre (2003) and in
the West End (2004). He directed and adapted
Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck, with an original score
and lyrics by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, which
opened at the Barbican Theatre in London
(October 2005). He directed and adapted
Metamorphosis along with David Farr at the
Lyric Hammersmith in London, with Gardarsson
in the role of Gregor Samsa and music by Nick
Cave and Warren Ellis. He also wrote and
directed Love, a romantic musical. Gardarsson
directed The Heart of Robin Hood, which opened
at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford
(2011), and Bastard, co-written by Richard
LaGravenese, presented in Denmark, Sweden
and Iceland (2012). Other acting credits include A
Matter of Life and Death (National Theatre
London), an adaptation of the 1946 Powell and
Pressburger film; Angela Carter’s Nights at the
Circus; and the title role in Don John (Royal
Shakespeare Company), all directed by Emma
Rice. Gardarsson starred in and co-wrote the
film Children, for which he received a Shooting
Star at the 2007 Berlinale, and played the main
villain in the Disney/Bruckheimer film Prince of
Persia, directed by Mike Newell. Gardarsson has
also worked at the National Theatre in Norway,
the Malmö City Theatre in Sweden, the Residenz
Theatre in Munich and elsewhere.
graduated from The Icelandic Academy of the
Arts in 1990 and has since made his mark on the
Icelandic acting scene. He has extensive experience in theatre and has played various roles by
Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen and numerous
roles in contemporary plays both at The National
Theatre and Reykjavik City Theatre. He’s played
about 30 roles in domestic and foreign films in
addition to roles in short films and TV series.
Ingvar has received many prizes and recognition
for his acting both on stage and on the silver
screen. He’s received five Edda awards for best
actor (Icelandic film prize). He got The European
Film Award for Best European Actor—People’s
Choice in the year 2000. He represented Iceland
at European Shooting Star event 1999 at the
Berlin Film Festival. Ingvar is one of the cofounders of Vesturport (2001) and has appeared
in their productions of Romeo and Juliet, Woyzeck
and Metamorphosis around the world. Latest
works: Prospero in The Tempest (Reykjavik City
Theater); Sergei in Art (National Theater of
Iceland); Herman in Metamorphosis (National
Theater of Norway); Stanley in The Birthday Party
(National Theater of Iceland).
SELMA BJÖRNSDÓTTIR (Greta) is an
actress, singer and a director. Theatre credits as
an actress include Houswife (Vesturport,
Reykjavik City Theater), Romeo and Juliet
(Reykjavik City Theater, Poland, Germany),
Singing in the Rain (National Theater of Iceland),
Hair (Menningarfélag Alþýðunnar), LazyTown
(Loftkastalinn), Les Misérables (National Theater
Iceland), Bastard (Vesturport, Reykjavik City
Theatre). Theatre credits as a director include
Les Misérables (National Theater Iceland), Oliver!
(National Theater Iceland), Pinocchio (Reykjavik
City Theatre). She has also recorded a number of
CDs as a pop and musical singer.
EDDA ARNLJÓTSDÓTTIR (Lucy) graduated
from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 1990 and
has played in numerous productions at the
National Theatre of Iceland, including many
principal roles. Theatre work includes Peer Gynt
(1991 and 2006), The Seagull, Blood Wedding, Der
Ring des Niebelungen, The Idiot, West Side Story,
Don Juan, As You Like It, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore,
Three Sisters, Independent People, The Cherry
Orchard, Antigone, Cyrano de Bergerac, The
Cripple of Inishmaan, The Full Monty, John Gabriel
Borkmann, Things are Going Great, Edith Piaf, By
the Bogs of Cats, Celebration and Glorious, as
well as many Icelandic plays. She was nominated
for The Icelandic Theatre Award Gríman for
Peer Gynt.
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VÍKINGUR KRISTJÁNSSON (Herr Stiethl/
Herr Fischer) is a writer and actor, having
appeared in People Next Door (Akureyri Theatre);
Woyzeck (Vesturport, Barbican, Reykjavik City
Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (Vesturport, The
Young Vic, Playhouse, Reykjavik City Theatre);
Surf, Titus Andronicus and Disco Pigs (Vesturport).
He has appeared in several films and TV series in
Iceland. His writing credits include Shopping Mall
Shattered (Vesturport) and he is a co-writer of
Vesturport’s adaptation of Faust.
a bout the artists
(continued)
DAVID FARR (Co-Writer/Co-Director) will direct
BÖRKUR JONSSON (Stage Design) works as a
freelance designer for theatre and film abroad
and at home. He is a member of Vesturport
Theatre and has worked extensively with them
since 2002. Selected theatre productions
include: Return of Ulysses (English National
Opera); King Lear (National Theatre of Iceland,
2010); Enron, August: Osage County, Blasted
(Reykjavik City Theatre); Electric Hotel (Fuel
Theatre); The Threepenny Opera (National
Theatre of Iceland); Woyzeck (Vesturport/
Reykjavík City Theatre /Barbican Center);
Metamorphosis (Vesturport/ Lyric
Hammersmith Theatre); Romeo and Juliet
(Vesturport /Reykjavík City Theatre /Young Vic).
Film credits include: production design for the
feature film BRIM. Börkur received the annual
Icelandic Theatre Awards for Stage Design in
2006, 2008 and 2010. He was nominated for the
Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2006 for
Metamorphosis. His studies include blacksmithing (Granada, Spain), sculpture (BA,
Icelandic Academy of the Arts) and performance
and video art (MA, Academy of Fine Arts,
Helsinki).
Hamlet for the RSC in 2013. Writing credits: The
Heart of Robin Hood and Night of the Soul (RSC);
The UN Inspector (National Theatre); The Nativity
(Young Vic Theatre); Elton John’s Glasses (London
West End); The Danny Crowe Show (Bush Theatre).
Directing credits: Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A
Winter’s Tale, King Lear, The Homecoming (Royal
Shakespeare Company); Coriolanus (RSC/Old Vic
Theatre); Julius Caesar (RSC/Lyric Theatre
Hammersmith); adapted and directed The
Odyssey, directed the devised piece Water (with
Filter Theatre); The Birthday Party (Lyric Theatre
Hammersmith). Other credits: Associate Director,
Royal Shakespeare Company (2009–present);
Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre, London
1993–1997; Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic
2002–2005; Artistic Director and Co-Chief
Executive of Lyric Theatre Hammersmith
2005–2009. Film and television writing credits:
“Spooks” (BBC-TV series), Hanna (co-writer, feature film, Focus Features). David is currently writing screenplays for BBC Film, Cloud Eight,
Universal Studios and Parkes Macdonald.
NICK CAVE and WARREN ELLIS (Music)
have been playing together for more than 15
years with The Bad Seeds, Grinderman and The
Dirty Three. Recently they have collaborated on
soundtracks for films such as The Proposition
(2005), The Assassination of Jesse James by the
Coward Robert Ford (2007), The Road (2009), Dias
de Gracias (2011), West of Memphis (2012) and
Lawless (2012), as well as Gisli Örn Gardarsson’s
theatrical productions of Woyzeck (2005),
Metamorphosis (2006) and Faust (2010). Cave
and Ellis have also lent resonant dimension to a
number of startling documentaries. In 2007, they
scored Geoffrey Smith’s harrowing film The
English Surgeon and Matthew Watson’s The Girls
of Phnom Penh (2009).
BJÖRN HELGASON (Lighting Design) is a
Vesturport co-founder and has worked as
lighting designer on Romeo and Juliet,
Metamorphosis, Together and supervised the
recording of Woyzeck onto DVD. He has served as
a Vesturport board member from the beginning
and is responsible for multiple roles and projects
on the behalf of Vesturport over the years. Björn
has worked on several feature films, short films
and multiple TV programs as a cinematographer,
cameraman and gaffer. Björn worked for
Channel 1 Iceland “RÚV” (Icelandic National
Broadcasting Service) for seven years as a
cinematographer, lighting and camera operator
on various projects and was responsible for the
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a bout the artists
(continued)
most prestigious projects produced during his
time there. Björn works as a freelance
cinematographer and lighting designer. Among
his recent works as lighting designer is The Heart
of Robin Hood written by David Farr and directed
by Gísli Örn Gardarsson for the RSC.
NICK MANNING (Sound Design) is the head of
Sound at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. At
Lyric, he has worked on: Morning, The Chair
Plays, Saved, 1984, Roald Dahl’s Twisted Tales,
Dick Whittington and His Cat, The Big Fellah (also
UK tour), A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky,
Ghost Stories (also Liverpool Playhouse/Duke of
York’s—Olivier Award-nominated for Best Sound
Design), Three Sisters, Jack and the Beanstalk,
Comedians, The Jitterbug Blitz, Hang On,
Cinderella, Spyski!, Depth Charge, Love—The
Musical, The Birthday Party, The Resistible Rise of
Arturo Ui, Beauty and the Beast, Accidental Heroes,
Absolute Beginners, Ramayana, Metamorphosis,
Too Close to Home, The Odyssey, Some Girls Are
Bigger Than Others, The Firework-Maker’s
Daughter, Don Juan, Oliver Twist, Pericles, Camille,
A Christmas Carol, The Prince of Homburg,
Aladdin, The Servant and Pinocchio. Theatre
includes: The Acid Test, The Empire (Royal Court);
Grumpy Old Women 2, Britt on Britt, Grumpy Old
Women (Avalon); Gizmo Love, Excuses, Out of Our
Heads (ATC); The Unsinkable Clerk (Network of
Stuff); Airsick, Crooked, When You Cure Me (Bush);
Darwin in Malibu (Hampstead Theatre); Rabbit
(Frantic Assembly); Great Expectations (Bristol
Old Vic).
DÝRI JÓNSSON (Producer) has worked as a
producer for Vesturport on international theatre
productions since 2008. Dýri handles all productions of Vesturport and is currently engaged in a
new play, Bastard, in cooperation with Reykjavik
City Theatre, Teater Faar302 in Copenhagen and
Malmö City Theatre. He has also worked on the
touring production of The Heart of Robin Hood,
Metamorphosis, Faust, Woyzeck and Romeo and
Juliet. Jónsson holds a graduate degree in economics, marketing and entrepreneurship. He
has a diverse experience of business operations,
ranging from founding and managing a hotel,
managing contractors to organizing conferences
and various artistic events.
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HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES
VIEW ONLINE AT
https://artsemerson.org/Online/mediakit-metamorphosis
Please click on image below for print-ready resolution:
Gisli Orn Gardarsson
Gisli Orn Gardarsson
Ingvar E. Sigurdson & Gisli Orn
Gardarsson
Ingvar E. Sigurdson & Gisli Orn
Gardarsson
Gisli Orn Gardarsson
Gisli Orn Gardarsson
Photo Credit: Eddi
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REVIEWS
New York Times
http://vesturport.com/new-york-times-review-of-metamorphosis
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/chris-cox/metamorphosistheatre-review_b_2549190.html
Washington Post
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-0221/lifestyle/37216399_1_metamorphosis-gregor-samsa-weirdworld
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USEFUL LINKS
Vesturport Theatre
http://vesturport.com/
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
http://www.lyric.co.uk/
Kafka’s Metamorphosis
http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/stories/kafka-e.htm
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