Jan 21Jan 26, 2025
BEN DUKE
Ruination : The True Story of Medea • French Premiere
BEN DUKE’S DANCE-THEATER PIECE IS DARING AND DIVERTING. IS MEDEA A VICTIM OR A MURDERER?
Ben Duke, the envoy for dance-theater in the English-speaking world, offers a contemporary and highly original view of the classics. After his notable adaptations of Shakespeare and Dickens, he has now chosen Medea, devising actions and relationships from the perspective of the female character who can regain control of her own tale in history. As an iconoclast and master of irony he has changed the views of the legendary couple, offering the woman accused and allegedly guilty the possibility to speak out and have a fair trial, while also having Jason appear before the court and forced to admit to acts of negligence and pride. The approach is edifying, and brilliantly executed by nine performers excelling in all fields, singing, acting and dancing, with a wealth of expression on all levels, from comic to tragic.
Overtitled in French
LOST DOG/THE ROYAL BALLET
Direction
Ben Duke
Original idea Ben Duke and the Company
Direction assistant Andreea Paduraru
Choreography Winifred Burnett-Smith
Set design Soutra Gilmour
Musical direction Yshani Perinpanayagam
Lighting Jackie Shemesh
Video Hayley Egan
Sound Jethro Cooke
Dramaturgy Raquel Meseguer Zafe
With Miguel Altunaga, Jean Daniel Broussé, Maya Carroll, Liam Francis, Anna-Kay Gayle, Hannah Shepherd-Hulford et les musiciens Sheree DuBois, Keith Pun, Yshani Perinpanayagam
Executive Production Lost Dog - Daisy Drury.
Production Lost Dog - Emma Evans.
Coproduction Royal Ballet, Londres – Lost Dog.
