- Written, designed and directed by Brett Bailey
- Music by Bebe Lueki
- Soundscapes by James Webb
- With Andile Bonde, Abey Xakwe, Bebe Lueki, Jane Rademeyer and Ndumi Zweni
- Technical Manager - Iain North
- Stage Manager - Justin Green
'OREUS is a meditation on the creative principle that makes order out of a world of fragments, revealing the underlying beauty that fades away as suddenly as it appears.' Brett Bailey
Orfeus: the first poet-musician. His music is so beautiful it brings harmony to the natural world and stills the inner conflicts of all who hear it. The beautiful Eurydice is awakened by his song, and they fall in love. But on the night of their marriage a snake kills her, and the heart-broken Orfeus sets off on an epic journey to find her.
In this haunting, ritualistic performance the audience accompanies Orfeus into an Underworld of African sorrows where he encounters lost souls trapped in eternal torment: children in sweatshops, the merchandise of human trafficking, men tortured in forgotten cells…
The work can be performed as either a site-responsive promenade piece or within a black box (with a cast of 7 performers). The black box version of ORFEUS can be performed for any language: sur-titles can be used, or a local actor can take the role of the storyteller.
WE ARE CURRENTLY ARRANGING AN INTERNATIONAL TOUR OF ORFEUS FOR 2012. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PRESENTING THE PRODUCTION, PLEASE CONTACT US
‘Before Orfeus
There was no music
No songs
No tunes
Nothing to hum when you’re happy or sad
There were gunshots and there was weeping
There were hisses and growls
The cold ringing of fear
The clatter of laughter
A dull buzzing that went on forever
But music?
If there was we could not hear it
He brought us music
Taught us to sing
And slowly we began to understand’
- In the SCRIPT link below, the original English text, as well as an Afrikaans translation by Antjie Krog, can be found.
- In the ARTICLES link you can find an interview with Brett on ORFEUS by German theatre writer, Rolf Hemke.
‘The fading light, the scent of woodsmoke and wildflowers, and the sound of birdsong weave themselves through... haunting soundscapes to multiply the sensory and emotional impact of this quirky Orfeus... A gem in this year's Holland Festival.’FINANCIAL TIMES
‘The King of the Underworld wearing a pith helmet, and tapping away on a laptop, is the image of the calculating indifference and greed. Around him is the detritus of corruption in the developing world - used syringes litter the floor, behind him boxes of United Nations food aid and four masked sex slaves, like blow up dolls, tied to chairs...’MAIL AND GUARDIAN
‘I was completely transported, swept away, overcome… in this astonishing rendition of the birth of tragedy.’CUE
‘In Orfeus, Bailey searches out softer tissue, our vulnerabilities, the marrow in our bones, the chasms in our souls. He uses not our fears but our sympathies for the blind, the forgotten, the broken and the voiceless in order to torture us.’MAIL AND GUARDIAN