Theatre Beyond WordsSilly Old Men at Artword Theatre

BackTo Artword 2004-2005 program list

Artword Theatre, 75 Portland St
October 6 to 17, 2004

Theatre Beyond Words presents
Silly Old Men Ought Not to Fall in Love / Os Vellos Non Deben de Namorarse
a comic satire on love, duty and death
based on a mask play by Spanish visual artist Alphonso R. Castelao, originally written in the Galician language
Adapted and directed by Robin Patterson

"This is a play imagined by a painter and not a writer, so it is not an academic thesis. It is merely a visual synthesis in which the love and death of three stubborn old men are at play."

Tues to Sat at 8 pm: $22 reg / $16 std,sen
Sunday at 2:30 pm: 75 as above, 75 tickets pwyc at the door
For advance reservations, call 416-408-1146 (Artword Theatre)

FINDING THE PLAY
For 26 years, Theatre Beyond Words has toured its unique style of visual, mask and mime theatre nationally and internationally. Company members first encountered the work of Castelao, the visual artist, in 1998 on our 4th tour to Spain when one of his paintings in a Galician restaurant struck us with its passionate imagery. We brought back a book of his energetic drawings to study.

In 2001, while on tour in Pontevedra, Galicia, we visited the museum dedicated to his full body of work and were astounded by the variety of his potent images, so clearly created with great love of humanity as well as an incredible sense of irony. Realizing that an instinctive artistic connection had been made, our Galician colleagues presented us with a copy of the only play Castelao wrote - a mask play with a clear visual perspective. They thought it would be a wonderful project for us. From that point on, it was not a matter of "if" but rather "when, where and how" Theatre Beyond Words would produce "Os Vellos Non Deben de Namorarse."

The play is passionate, romantic and warm, yet it has underlying bite to its humour. It is about love and death; the callousness of youth and the desperation of old age; the desire and yearning of the individual as mocked by the judgmentalism of society as a whole. It is about the complexity of the human heart.

"This is a play imagined by a painter and not a writer, so it is not an academic thesis. It is merely a visual synthesis in which the love and death of three stubborn old men are at play."

These are the first lines of Castelao's prologue, the vision and the irony of the show in a nutshell. They caught our imaginations and directed our work.

Like the background in Castelao's drawings, our set is designed to support and frame the characters and the action with simple, elegant shapes: three boxes become all the furniture; three arches split and reform to suggest all the architecture and landscape of the town.

The actors' costumes begin as blank canvases. Onto these we layer costume pieces like paint. Muted colours and simple shapes are added for the gossips who blend into the background all eyes and ears. Brighter colours are added for minor characters; more colour and pattern for major characters. At times costume pieces become props or puppets to push a visual idea out of reality and into the imagination.

Designed specifically for this show, the masks are used to distil the characters. The gossips have no masks for they hide behind their fans or the arches. Minor characters have nose/brow masks; major characters have half masks in the commedia dell'Arte tradition; overblown carnival characters have full head masks. Again, the idea of layering.

The masks engender a very particular style of play which gives the audience both verbal and physical information at once. Characters begin speeches talking directly to each other, then turn to the audience to share their thoughts - which may or may not parallel their words. It is the physicalization of irony.

The text has been drawn from the Galician using short pithy sentences, rhythm and sound to convey as much as the words themselves.

The music was composed to be a blend of traditional Galician and various modern styles, to support the subtext of individual characters.

The play was a gift of language, music, dance and visual art from Castelao in exile to his countrymen. It is a gift we have brought back from our tours to share with our Canadian audiences.

THEATRE BEYOND WORDS

When five mimes get together you may not hear a sound, but the stage screams with creativity. This is what happened in 1977, when five mimes decided to "travel beyond words" and created The Potato People. And this is not the only creation the troupe has crafted. The unique use of masks combined with a European clown style allows these artists to make magic with everyday situations, producing charming characters and stories that are fresh and universal.

Through these original works for young and general audiences, our company has garnered international acclaim for its artistic and entertaining performances, transcending cultural barriers with innovative uses of mask, mime, puppetry and music.

After 25 years of delightful comedy TBW keeps entertaining audiences all over the world. The visual style of our work allows us to enter stages from Japan to Spain… allows us to touch the hearts of thousands of people… allows us to realize how similar we all are as people. Theatre Beyond Words is Canada's internationally acclaimed visual the theatre company.

Theatre Beyond Words, 145 King Street, St. Catharines, ON L2R 3J2, tel: 905.687.9657 fax: 905.687.4057, tbw@theatrebeyondwords.com www.theatrebeyondwords.com

		Artword Theatre, 75 Portland St October 6 to 17, 2004 Theatre Beyond Words presents *Silly Old Men Ought Not to Fall in Love / Os Vellos Non Deben de Namorarse* a comic satire on love, duty and death based on a mask play by Spanish visual artist Alphonso R. Castelao, originally written in the Galician language Adapted and directed by Robin Patterson "This is a play imagined by a painter and not a writer, so it is not an academic thesis. It is merely a visual synthesis in which the love and death of three stubborn old men are at play." Tues to Sat at 8 pm: $22 reg / $16 std,sen Sunday at 2:30 pm: 75 as above, 75 tickets pwyc at the door For advance reservations, call 416-408-1146 (Artword Theatre) FINDING THE PLAY For 26 years, Theatre Beyond Words has toured its unique style of visual, mask and mime theatre nationally and internationally. Company members first encountered the work of Castelao, the visual artist, in 1998 on our 4th tour to Spain when one of his paintings in a Galician restaurant struck us with its passionate imagery. We brought back a book of his energetic drawings to study. In 2001, while on tour in Pontevedra, Galicia, we visited the museum dedicated to his full body of work and were astounded by the variety of his potent images, so clearly created with great love of humanity as well as an incredible sense of irony. Realizing that an instinctive artistic connection had been made, our Galician colleagues presented us with a copy of the only play Castelao wrote - a mask play with a clear visual perspective. They thought it would be a wonderful project for us. From that point on, it was not a matter of "if" but rather "when, where and how" Theatre Beyond Words would produce "Os Vellos Non Deben de Namorarse." The play is passionate, romantic and warm, yet it has underlying bite to its humour. It is about love and death; the callousness of youth and the desperation of old age; the desire and yearning of the individual as mocked by the judgmentalism of society as a whole. It is about the complexity of the human heart.

	"This is a play imagined by a painter and not a writer, so it is not an academic thesis. It is merely a visual synthesis in which the love and death of three stubborn old men are at play." These are the first lines of Castelao's prologue, the vision and the irony of the show in a nutshell. They caught our imaginations and directed our work. Like the background in Castelao's drawings, our set is designed to support and frame the characters and the action with simple, elegant shapes: three boxes become all the furniture; three arches split and reform to suggest all the architecture and landscape of the town. The actors' costumes begin as blank canvases. Onto these we layer costume pieces like paint. Muted colours and simple shapes are added for the gossips who blend into the background all eyes and ears. Brighter colours are added for minor characters; more colour and pattern for major characters. At times costume pieces become props or puppets to push a visual idea out of reality and into the imagination. Designed specifically for this show, the masks are used to distil the characters. The gossips have no masks for they hide behind their fans or the arches. Minor characters have nose/brow masks; major characters have half masks in the commedia dell'Arte tradition; overblown carnival characters have full head masks. Again, the idea of layering. The masks engender a very particular style of play which gives the audience both verbal and physical information at once. Characters begin speeches talking directly to each other, then turn to the audience to share their thoughts - which may or may not parallel their words. It is the physicalization of irony. The text has been drawn from the Galician using short pithy sentences, rhythm and sound to convey as much as the words themselves. The music was composed to be a blend of traditional Galician and various modern styles, to support the subtext of individual characters. The play was a gift of language, music, dance and visual art from Castelao in exile to his countrymen. It is a gift we have brought back from our tours to share with our Canadian audiences. THEATRE BEYOND WORDS When five mimes get together you may not hear a sound, but the stage screams with creativity. This is what happened in 1977, when five mimes decided to "travel beyond words" and created The Potato People. And this is not the only creation the troupe has crafted. The unique use of masks combined with a European clown style allows these artists to make magic with everyday situations, producing charming characters and stories that are fresh and universal. Through these original works for young and general audiences, our company has garnered international acclaim for its artistic and entertaining performances, transcending cultural barriers with innovative uses of mask, mime, puppetry and music. After 25 years of delightful comedy TBW keeps entertaining audiences all over the world. The visual style of our work allows us to enter stages from Japan to Spain… allows us to touch the hearts of thousands of people… allows us to realize how similar we all are as people. Theatre Beyond Words is Canada's internationally acclaimed visual the theatre company. Theatre Beyond Words, 145 King Street, St. Catharines, ON L2R 3J2, tel: 905.687.9657 fax: 905.687.4057, tbw@theatrebeyondwords.com www.theatrebeyondwords.com