| "Maldoror"
consists of music written for the Brazilian theatre company - Os Satyros'
stage production of Lautremont's classic surrealist tract, "Chants de
Maldoror". I have worked closely with director, Rodolfo Garcia
Vasquez and scriptwriter and principal lead, Ivam Cabral in an attempt
to provide a provocative backdrop to what is a unique and unsettling
experience for the live audience. It is an experience that begins
with a journey in a blacked-out coach to an unspecified location. A
looped version of the first track "Prelude:Europa" sets the
scene for this voyage into the unknown. Some 15 minutes later they
arrive in the middle of dense woods to the twin sights of a bloody body
lying prone in the middle of the road and a young girl merrily singing
on a swing.
The second track "Mal d-Aurore
(dawn's evil)" leads them through the forest to the deserted chapel
where the main part of the performance takes place. Over the next
hour they will follow Maldoror's terrible quest for the Creator.
Along the way they meet the hermaphrodite, the glow-worm, prostitutes,
gravediggers and beggar-women. The final track "Epilogue:the
Audience" is to be played as the audience leaves the chapel in
pursuit of the cast.
Steven Severin, London, July 1999.
OS SATYROS
The theatre company Os Satyros (The
Satyrs) was founded in 1989 by Ivam Cabral and Rodolfo Garcia.
Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil - Os Satyros' aims have been to create
challenging & provocative theatre using various different forms of
media. Following the success of their production of "Salo,
Salome" the company was invited to perform the play in Portugal and at the EXPO in Seville, Spain.
Shortly after this they moved to
Lisbon, Portugal from where they toured Europe extensively performing in
the U.K. at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Battersea Arts Centre,
London. In the same year they were the first Western theatre company
to perform in the Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Since 1996 they have worked between
Portugal and Brazil and have continued to tour Europe with their thought
provoking and often shocking productions. These have included
adaptations and productions of De Sade's "120 Days of Sodomy",
"Philosophy in the Boudoir", "De Profundis" - a play
based on the life and work of Oscar Wilde, "A Proposta" based
on Chekov's "The Proposal", Goethe's "Faust" and a
Greek Trilogy:- "Prometheus, Electra and Medea".
It was whilst they were in Portugal
that Ivam Cabral first contacted Steven Severin and asked him to write
the music for his play "Maldoror" based on Lautreamont's
infamous surrealist novel "Chants de Maldoror". |
