Theater News

Mnouchkine, Ninagawa, Twist, and Wilson Will Headline Lincoln Center Festival

Basil Twist
Photo © Carol Rosegg
Basil Twist
Photo © Carol Rosegg

Works directed by France’s Ariane Mnouchkine, Italy’s Ferruccio Soleri, Japan’s Yukio Ninagawa, China’s Chen Zhi-Zheng, and America’s Robert Wilson and Basil Twist will highlight the 10th annual Lincoln Center Festival. In total, artists from 25 countries will participate in the event, which will be held from July 12 through 31.


The founder of the world-famous Le Theatre du Soleil, Ariane Mnouchkine will helm Le Dernier Caravansereil, a two-part, six-hour exploration of the fate of refugees from around the world. According to Mnouchkine, “This play is about people who are seeking a liveable place as well as a future for themselves and their children.” A special tent will be constructed in Damrosch Park for the show’s 17-performance run, and theatergoers can see both parts of the play (with a dinner break in between) on Saturdays and Sundays. Le Dernier Caravansereil is also the opening event of Act French: A Season of New Theater from France, a series of productions that will be performed in various New York City venues through December 15.


Ferruccio Soleri first played the title role in Arlecchino: Servant of Two Masters at City Center in 1960. Now, he will be recreating that role in a revival of the classic Carlo Goldoni comedy at Avery Fisher Hall, July 20-23. While the play will be done in Italian with English subtitles, Soleri — who is restaging the original Giorgio Strehler production — insists that language doesn’t really matter. “Everything will become clear through movement and gesture,” he says.


Yukio Ninagawa, one of Japan’s greatest directors, will present Modern Noh Plays by the legendary writer Yukio Mishima. In Sotoba Komachi, based on the legend of a famous beauty, the director will adhere to the 14th-century tradition of Noh by having all the roles played by men; however, women will be part of the cast of Yoroboshi, which concerns a magistrate’s decision about the rightful parentage of an angry young man blinded in an air raid when he was five. (The man will be portrayed by the popular Japanese film star Tatsuya Fujiwara.) These plays will be presented at the Rose Theater in the Time Warner Center, July 28-30.


Chen Shi-Zheng, who has participated in the Festival on three previous occasions (including the controversial The Peony Pavilion), is the creator of My Life as a Fairytale. Inspired by the work and life of Hans Christian Andersen, this new music-theater piece boasts songs by composer Stephin Merritt and playwright Erik Ehn. The cast will be headed by Tony Award winner Blair Brown and Mia Mastro, a star of the hit TV series Alias. Performances will take place July 27, 29 and 30 at John Jay College.


Robert Wilson, one of America’s most influential artists, has been commissioned by the Festival to create I La Galigo, a three-hour, multi-media performance piece based on the epic Indonesian poem Sureq Galigo. Featuring a cast of more than 50 Indonesian performers, it will run July 13-16 at the New York State Theater. Basil Twist, best known for Symphonie Fantastique, will direct La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco, a 75-minute opera based in part on Sleeping Beauty. This production will feature a cast of 75 puppets along with a large contingent of human singers; it will play July 12-16 at John Jay College.


Other highlights of the Festival include Merce Cunnigham’s full-length dance piece Ocean; Africa: America, A Night of Hip-Hop, a one-night concert starring pop great Wyclef Jean; and Shadowtime, a “thought opera” by Brian Ferneyhough and Charles Bernstein based on the life of philosopher Walter Bernstein, who committed suicide while trying to flee from the Nazis.


For more information on the Lincoln Center Festival, visit www.lincolncenter.org.