ARISTIDES - The OUTCAST HERO, a play by Alice de Sousa opens in a London theatre in January 2009.Play: ARISTIDES – THE OUTCAST HERO, by Alice de Sousa
Director: Bruce Jamieson
Theatre: Greenwich Playhouse, Station Forecourt, 189 Greenwich High Road,
London, SE10 8JA
Telephone 020 8858 9256
Email: boxoffice at galleontheatre.co.uk
Previews from 27 Jan 09, opens on 29 Jan 09 to 22 Feb 09
Tues-Sat at 7.30pm; Sun at 4pm
Ticket Price: £12, 10 GBP
Performers: Michael Hucks, Barry Davis, Owen G. Bevan, Sue Broberg, Janet Coulson, Suzanne Goldberg, Chris Manning-Perry, Daniel Moore, Robert Paul, Hannah-Jane Pawsey, Anna Ruben, Richard Unwin, Paul Lawrence-Thomas
The play celebrates the true story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who disobeyed his government and issued around 30,000 transit visas to refugees seeking to escape the Nazis. Aristides de Sousa Mendes’ humanitarian and selfless actions represent the most significant life saving effort undertaken by one individual during WWII. Posthumously, his altruism has been recognised world wide but in Britain his story remains largely unknown.
The production has received support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Alice de Sousa and the Galleon Theatre Company have presented a number of Portuguese plays in the Greenwhich Playhouse, including Inês de Castro and Primo Basilio.
“Under artistic director Alice de Sousa, the Greenwich Playhouse is surely London’s leading exponent of Portuguese culture” – Time Out
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The Galleon Theatre Company Ltd
GREENWICH PLAYHOUSE
Greenwich Station Forecourt
189 Greenwich High Road
London SE10, 8JA
Telephone: 020 8858 9256
E-Mail: BoxOffice@Galleontheatre.co.uk
1
ARISTIDES – THE OUTCAST HERO
Written and Produced by Alice de Sousa;
Directed by Bruce Jamieson;
Presented by Galleon Theatre Company Ltd.
DATES: 27th January– 22nd February 2009
Tues-Sat @ 7.30pm - Sun @ 4pm
PRESS NIGHT- Thursday, 29th January 2009 @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £12, £10 (concs)
Box Office: 020 8858 9256; boxoffice@galleontheatre.co.uk
VENUE: GREENWICH PLAYHOUSE,
Greenwich Station Forecourt, 189 Greenwich High Road LONDON SE10 8JA
Galleon Theatre Company is delighted to announce that, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, its first production of 2009 will be the World Première of ‘Aristides – the Outcast Hero’.
“Under artistic director Alice de Sousa, the Greenwich Playhouse is surely London’s leading exponent of Portuguese culture” – Time Out
In support of national events marking the Memorial of the Holocaust, Galleon Theatre Company present the World Première of Alice de Sousa’s new play. Aristides – the Outcast Hero which celebrates the true story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who disobeyed his government and issued 30,000 transit visas to refugees seeking to escape the Nazis. Aristides de Sousa Mendes’ humanitarian and selfless actions represent the most significant life saving effort undertaken by one individual during WWII. Posthumously, his altruism has been recognised world wide but in Britain his story remains largely unknown.
In spring 1940, a multitude of desperate people fleeing the advancing German armies poured into Bordeaux. In their thousands they queued outside the Portuguese Consulate hoping to be granted visas allowing them to cross Franco’s Spain (recently torn apart by civil war) to neutral Portugal and from there to the free world.
The Portuguese Consul, Aristides de Sousa Mendes agonised over the insuperable dilemma: whether to obey his government’s orders and refuse to grant visas or to answer the screaming voice of his own conscience and save as many as possible. Disregarding professional and personal consequences which were to tragically punish him for the rest of his life; he disobeyed and issued visas, regardless of religion, race or political creed, and to anyone that needed them. It is not known precisely how many Aristides saved but it is thought that some 30,000 visas were granted; some of these were issued to families and so each visa could provide escape for several generations.
The Holocaust is believed to have killed some 15 million people. The vast majority of these were Jewish. Other victims included some 1.5 million children; disabled people; Gypsies, homosexuals, those of African descent, Christian pastors and Catholic priests, Jehovah's Witnesses, Russian prisoners of war, trade unionists, and any other individuals who were considered to be racially inferior or degenerate were murdered by the Nazi regime. The thousands queuing, in the suffocating heat, outside the Portuguese Consulate in Bordeaux would undoubtedly have faced a similar and appalling destiny.
Galleon Theatre Company’s lovingly created and thought provoking production seeks to celebrate an ordinary man, who did extraordinary things. If we should measure the quality of an individual by the values they uphold, then Aristides de Sousa Mendes must surely be one of the greatest of men.
Ø The Director: BRUCE JAMIESON
Aristides - the Outcast Hero, is directed by Bruce Jamieson who has previously directed over thirty Galleon acclaimed theatre productions which include Hamlet; Pygmalion; Cousin Basílio; Shadows on the Sun; The Importance of Being Earnest; 3 Sisters; The White Devil; ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore; The Maias ; Inês de Castro; King Lear; Absent Friends; A Doll’s House; The Heiress of the Cane Fields; The Seagull; The Crime of The Old Village; Thankfully there is Moonlight!; Hedda Gabler; and The Merchant of Venice. As an actor, he has played leading roles in some sixty stage plays; and his television and film credits include the recently released feature film The Oxford Murders (with John Hurt & Elijah Wood); Murphy’s Law (Tiger Aspect); Monarch of the Glen (Ecosse); Ali G-Inda House (Universal); Roughnecks (BBC); In Suspicious Circumstances (Granada); Crime Solver (BBC); and Spongebob (BBC).
Ø The Writer & Producer: ALICE DE SOUSA
Aristides - the Outcast Hero, is written by award winning Alice de Sousa who has written many critically acclaimed stage and screen scripts; produced over seventy theatre productions; as an actress, played leading roles in some thirty plays; and won in 2005 the American Biographical Institute’s awards - ‘Great Women of the 21st Century’ and ‘Woman of the Year 2005’. (These awards exclusively recognise worldwide the impact on society of the work of 1000 prolific women). In 2007, she was short listed for the Portuguese Government’s illustrious award ‘Prémio de Talento 2006’, in recognition of her internationally celebrated writing and theatrical productions of Portuguese literature.
Galleon Theatre Company has been staging an internationally acclaimed and diverse repertoire of work since 1989. Productions directed by Bruce Jamieson and written/adapted by Alice de Sousa include:
Ø Inês de Castro by Alice de Sousa
“Jamieson’s robustly confident production is undeniably slick.” - Evening Standard
“is the nearest new play to challenge the classical mould that I have seen in ages. It is a really glorious night out.” - indielondon.co.uk
“This studio-sized venue has been put on the cultural map with productions of epic quality. And it's the word epic that springs to mind with artistic director Alice de Sousa's searing drama of doomed romance, Inês de Castro.” - South London Press
Ø Cousin Basílio novel by Eça de Queirós;
adapted for the stage by Alice de Sousa
"Alice de Sousa has performed an important role in bringing Queirós' work into the 21st century spotlight ... an intriguing wake-up call to a Portuguese literary gem" – Evening Standard
"Director Bruce Jamieson orchestrates some brilliantly sharp social comedy.” - South London Press
“Alice de Sousa’s adaptation is impish and thoroughly enjoyable" – Time Out
Ø The Maias novel by Eça de Queirós; adapted for the stage by Alice de Sousa
"The Maias, is further proof of the niche the Greenwich Playhouse is carving out for itself as an enjoyably ambitious venue that is a solid producer of classics”. Evening Standard
"This excellent play turned into an evening that was never to be forgotten and must be ranked at least as first rate... The job that Alice de Sousa has done is monumental” – Indielondon.co.uk
Ø Thankfully there is Moonlight! by Sttau Monteiro,
adapted by Alice de Sousa
“a powerful play, written out of anger and despair.” – Time Out
“This gripping story is a true gem.” – News Shopper
“In an eloquent and taut English translation by Alice de Sousa, directed by Bruce Jamieson, Thankfully there is Moonlight! marks a welcome return to the satisfying quality that has established Galleon’s reputation as exponent of wrongly neglected classics. – The Stage
“Thankfully there is Moonlight! is powerful story of human faith, courage and loyalty, and it is really worth seeing.” – The Wharf
Information provided by Brigid Rennell for Theatreworld Internet Magazine, from http://www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com/theatreworld/inn.htm
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