“THE STRANGE HORSEMAN”
NWTC’s entry for FEATS 2015 - winning third place!
To see the reviews:
*Geoff Thompson, The Chronicle*
*To read a little about what inspires John Brigg, the director, see his interview (get involved/interviews)*
Performed in Bourglinster and then in Hamburg during the FEATS festival (22nd-25th May)
Photos by Phil Taylor
They went, they rode, they triumphed! “Brigg’s elegant translation and adaptation have made a somewhat obscure, quaint and bizarre little play immediate and accessible. The direction is clever and effective. The outcome is terrifying, chaotic and very funny.” (Erik Abbott, the Wort)... and so began the appreciation of NWTC’s latest production, Strange Horseman.
First performed in Bourglinster, the show was very warmly received by audiences, selling out on two nights. When asked for one word to sum up the production, audience responses included “fear”, “clean”, “expectancy”, “weird” and “refreshing”! Certainly not boring! Together with the after-show meal and setting, the run in Bourglinster proved to be a winning formula. Recognition followed in Hamburg during FEATS, where the production won 3rd place overall. The adjudicator found the play to be "intriguing, mesmerising, haunting and poetic."
Bravo cast and crew and, in particular, to director, John Brigg.
About the play
"The Strange Horseman" is a short (around 30 minutes) play by Michel de Ghelderode, an avant-garde Flemish dramatist who lived from 1898 to 1962 and wrote weird, wonderful, surreal, macabre and funny plays about the human condition. The Strange Horseman is no exception. It is a tragi-comic gem that looks at the varied and various reactions of a group of people faced with imminent death. It doesn't sound too light-hearted, yet the treatment is anything but depressing.
In this early play of around 1920, de Ghelderode has chosen a group of people living out their last days in an ancient hospice for the destitute and confronts them with the arrival of Mounted Death, surely come for one – or perhaps more – of their number! The outcome is terrifying, chaotic and very funny. The play was originally written in French – de Ghelderode’s language of choice for his plays – under the title Le Cavalier bizarre, but a new translation will be used for this production. It has been adapted for modern audiences – without foregoing the medieval flavour. The old people have an uproarious time, mocking, bantering, cowering, panicking, rejoicing and outdoing each other. They are all country folk, superstitious and down-to-earth. Only the Seer, with her/his command of language, shows signs of learning. Cast - Angela Milne, Christine Mitchell, Giampaolo Spedo, Jan Horsburgh, John Brigg, Lesley Chesters, Steve Wilkie, Valerie Scott & live musician and sound maker - Evelyne Bastien
Crew - John Brigg (Director), Gav Guilfoyle (Stage manager), Laure Gatter (Lighting and sound operation), Robin Alder (Singing coach)
Anyone who would like to find out more about the play and the production, can contact the director, John Brigg on jbrigg(at)luxconsult(dot)lu or +352 691 636 631..jpg)
