| Solaris
When I was given the opportunity to work on the stage version of Lem's great novel, I was exited and a bit nervous — it's not easy to live up to the standards of the literary masterpiece, especially when it's been made into two powerful films. Science fiction is not theatre's favorite, it demands a certain level of technical sophistication much easier achieved in film. However, theatre allows for the spiritual, relationship-driven aspects of the storyline to become more pronounced, and that's precisely what I wanted to happen in our production.
Another amazing quality of the story is that everyone, irrespective of their beliefs, experience or cultural background, is going to be touched by it's subject matter. At some point in our lives most of us have wondered what would happen if our lost loved ones were to return to us.... How would we react? Would we be surprised, scared or happy — or perhaps all three of these feelings would overwhelm us at the same time?
In "Solaris" science fiction's great 'IF' reaches it's outmost force making the reader or, in our case, the spectator to feel uncomfortable, sometimes even scared. But, the novel is clearly written not to shock; rather to make us feel and think and to look at the world that surrounds us with different, somewhat renewed eyes. Writers who can do that are visionaries, and I am honored to be able to touch upon the work of one of them.
The cast: Charles Church, Tara Godolphin, John Exell, Jacob Trenerry, Louise MacConnell and Murray Simon
Written by Stanislaw Lem
Directed by Dimitry Devdariani
Original score by Maria Kuznetsova
Performed at the Courtyard Theatre, London from 14th November to 8th December 2012 |
