Satyagraha

Improbable and ENO present Philip Glass' SATYAGRAHA, the second in the composer’s landmark trilogy of 'portrait' operas about men who changed the world. This new production based on Mahatma Gandhi's early years in South Africa, explores how the spiritual and political leader developed non-violent protest into a powerful force for change, as India marks her 60th year of independence.

The ENO Orchestra and Chorus play a pivotal role in this hauntingly beautiful and spiritual ensemble piece, which is performed in Sanskrit, the melodic language of the Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), to which Gandhi referred daily.

This is a collaboration with the ENO.

Director:
Phelim McDermott

Associate Director and Designer:
Julian Crouch

Cast includes:
Adeel Akhtar
Charlie Folorunsho
Alex Harvey
Ashley Holland
Nick Haverson
Nesreen Nabil Hussein
Janis Kelly
Tina Koch
Vic Llewellyn
Stephanie Marshall
Anne Mason
Charlotte Mooney
Alan Oke
Caroline Partridge
Robert Poulton
Rajha Shakiry
Lee Simpson
Rob Thirtle
Elena Xanthoudakis

Conductor:
Johannes Debus

Costume Designer:
Kevin Pollard

Lighting Designer:
Paule Constable

Video Design:
Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer for Fifty Nine Productions Ltd

Photographs on website for SATYAGRAHA by: Keith Pattison, 2007

Satyagraha was first performed at the ENO on 1st May 2007. The production was remounted at The Metropolitan Opera, New York in April / May 2008 with its last performance on 1 May 2008. Satyagraha is being remounted at the ENO in 2010.

Feb 25th & Mar 4, 12, 18, 25, 26 at 7pm, Mar 6, 13 at 6pm
ENO live at the London Coliseum

CLICK HERE FOR SHORT BIOGS FOR THE SKILLS ENSEMBLE

"The visual ingenuity of McDermott and Crouch's staging is a constant source of intrigue and illumination. Extraordinary puppets materialise and transform before our eyes: a holy cow becomes a fearsome warrior, countless yards of plastic tape (the "red tape" of politics, if you like) are somehow manipulated into a hovering angel. You don't always quite believe your eyes as actors on stilts or actors seeming to hover in space work their magic"

The Independent

"A masterwork of theatrical intensity and integrity"

The Times

"An astonishingly beautiful work"

The Guardian

"The result is an atmospheric, visually imaginative show"

Financial Times

"The opera was a moving, calming experience, yet it transmitted an inner energy, rather like a meditation session - a power that should not be underestimated"

MusicOMH.com

'The most powerful composer of our time'

The Daily Telegraph on Philip Glass

"The whole thing serves as a monumental affirmation of human dignity at a time when many have begun to question its very existence"

The Guardian

"An ensemble of acrobats and puppeteers conjure miracle after miracle. Newsprint looms large: there is a ubiquitous whispering of newspaper as sheets are shifted, read and then, almost imperceptibly, formed into gigantic papier-mâché puppet-figures of gods, beasts and politicians"

The Times