ARTicles vol.5 i.5: From the Artistic Director

Dear Friends,

In early October I joined the company of Wings of Desirein Amsterdam for the Dutch premiere of our co-production with Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Theatre is at the center of culture in the Netherlands, and Toneelgroep Amsterdam is the center of theatre.

Wings of Desirewas created by the combined forces of performers, dramaturgs, technicians, and administrators from the Dutch company and the A.R.T. It marks a great leap for us in our role as a theatre that creates work with international artists at our home in Cambridge. The project began four years ago when I met the Syrian/Dutch director Ola Mafaalani in Germany. I saw her stunning production of The Merchant of Venice, and admired the alternating currents of toughness and soul which she has also brought to the creation of Wings of Desire. The production, which opens at the A.R.T. Thanksgiving weekend, is one of poetic beauty and vibrancy, and I’m proud that we’re able to bring it to you.

Soon after the opening of Wings of Desire we’ll be welcoming The Dresden Dollsto Zero Arrow Theatre for the premiere of The Onion Cellar. Both productions have strong musical backbones. The Dolls have a passionate following from their home in Boston to Europe and beyond, while Andy Moor, who composed the score forWings of Desire, is beloved for his solo career and as member of The Ex, the supreme Dutch band who have played many gigs at the Middle East in Cambridge. To present the music of two such eminent rockers simultaneously will surely set the city ablaze. Meanwhile we’re well into the design process for my upcoming production of Racine’s Britannicus. I’m working with Riccardo Hernandez, who, as you’ll remember from his set designs forUncle Vanya, Romeo and Juliet, and Desire Under the Elms, delights in transforming the volume of the Loeb Theatre, so that we see the stage and auditorium in entirely new ways with each production. The set for Britannicuswill be a kind of installation on the stage, and the production will incorporate video in ways that are new both for me and for the A.R.T.

Britannicus will be sandwiched between an amazing Importance of Being Earnest – brought to us by the British duo Ridiculusmus, two incredible performers who between them play all the parts in Wilde’s comedy – and Neil Bartlett’s elegant, inventive adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, steeped in the traditions of Victorian music hall and melodrama.

These three productions promise to fill the A.R.T. with light and warmth, even in the depths of the New England winter. I look forward to welcoming you to the theatre for all three shows. As always, you can reach me at robert_woodruff@harvard.edu if you have any comments or thoughts.

Best wishes,
Robert Woodruff

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