“The atmosphere is in the details. When Linde strips off her eyelashes and make-up in a still life framed by the cabinet, the emotion cuts right to the bone.” – Karel Van Ransbeeck, theatre group De Spiegel (Antwerp).
Experience a celebratory journey of life and mortality through music and storytelling in this UK premiere of Poor Thing from VOX Muziektheater.
When three musical funeral directors stumble upon a cabinet filled with the belongings of an anonymous deceased woman, they decide to follow her traces and try to reconstruct her forgotten life.
As wistful 17th-century lute songs from John Dowland sound, the closet unfolds into a ceremony of still lifes. Lovingly and with a touch of humor, the funeral directors tell stories of times gone by.
VOX Muziektheater presents a performance full of soul-stirring songs and imaginative theatre about everyday relatable situations. Poor Thing is an ode to melancholy, and so it is an all-encompassing embrace of life.
VOX brings music from bygone eras back to contemporary life. Using classical song as a starting point, it creates visual music theatre performances using objects and puppets. With an equal dialogue between the two disciplines and the playful layering of music and images, VOX offers accessible performances that can reach and captivate a wide audience.
“Linde is a singer and visual artist who combines early music and enchanting theatre in fabulous ways, together with Martine and David.” – Tobias Kokkelmans, dramaturg O. Festival for Opera. Music. Theatre. (Operadagen Rotterdam).
Poor Thing is made possible with the support of NORMA fonds, Gemeente Rotterdam, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Zuid-Holland, Stichting RCOAK, Fonds Sluyterman van Loo, Elise Mathilde Fonds, Van Leeuwen van Lignac Stichting, Stichting Solidarodam en Van den Berch van Heemstede Stichting.
Production Credits:
Concept: Linde Schinkel, Martine van Ditzhuyzen
Soprano: Linde Schinkel, Lute: Punto Bawono
Performance: Linde Schinkel, Martine van Ditzhuyzen, Punto Bawono
Artistic Coaching: Mirthe Dokter
Final Direction: Hans Thissen
Set Design: Tamar Stalenhoef
Wardrobe: Wout Rockx
Image Credit: Vox Muziektheater
