blank
Stagework | issues - ideas - people - performance


Search Stagework

home
productions
issues
people
for teachers
events & workshops
stagework blog
 
Introduction 
 
This is information text
Page To Stage
 
This is information text
Cast And Production Team List
 

 
 

His Dark Materials - Introduction To Productions

Anyone who reads Philip Pullman’s extraordinary stories will be taken on an extravagant imaginative journey in which they visit parallel worlds, watch in awe the titanic battles between the forces of good and evil, experience fantastic creatures, and are introduced to the worlds of witches, daemons, and armoured bears. They will also be invited to think.

You can trace the many threads that went into taking this epic tale from the written page to final performance.

Follow the progress of the company from their first meeting through the elaborate Technical Rehearsal into preview and performance. Your journey will reveal an exciting process of theatre-making, involving cooperation of a high order, the ability and willingness to take calculated risks, and above all a shared belief and commitment to the vision that inspired Pullman to write His Dark Materials .

How did Nicholas Wright manage to distil the essence of Pullman’s books into two three-hour plays? Find out in The Alethiometer . Learn how Danny Sapani (Iorek) approaches performing as an armoured bear that drinks, fights, talks and acts like a human in Lyra meets Iorek and how the cast come to terms with their puppet daemons Read the production diary of Anna Maxwell-Martin (Lyra).

How on earth do you make an audience believe in the existence of parallel worlds? What does an armoured bear look like, or a cliff ghast, or a harpy? The creative team provide answers in set design and costume design, while in lighting design and sound design you can learn about the contribution the technical team make to the success of a performance.

How many different resources, people, money, and things are required? Production management has to find the answer.

 

From the National Theatre
His Dark Materials
Go
 
People
Nicholas_Wright Nicholas Wright
Playwright
Philip_Pullman Philip Pullman
Novelist
Issues
Beyond The Book
Faith Truth And Blasphemy
Connections: Lighting Design | Alethiometer | Set Design | Production Management | Lyra Meets Iorek Rehearsals | Tech Rehearsal Cast | Sound | Costume Design