We're thrilled, eager, and humbled to be working on Shakespeare's PERICLES with Trevor Nunn at Theatre for a New Audience. We can't think of a better way to kick off 2016, a year of crafting brand new PigPen stories and music, than to be surrounded by the talent and experience of this cast and creative team.
This will be the first time Mr. Nunn will have staged a Shakespeare play with a company of American actors. It will also be the first time all seven of us will appear in a production together that we haven't written.
Those of our music fans that are interested in some theatrical context, or our theatre fans that want to geek out with us, keep reading...
You know Shakespeare. Not just a playwright, he's the playwright. You either hated or loved him in high-school, but you were reading him because he's widely regarded as the greatest playwright who ever lived. Greatest hits include: Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth. Pericles features one of Shakespeare's most epic journeys and most specific uses of a singing narrator, Gower. We're completely excited to explore this world.
Trevor Nunn is a legendary theatre director. Even if you don't know theatre, you know Les Miserables and Cats, both of which he directed. He also co-directed one of our all-time favorite pieces of theatre, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, which you can watch in its entirety on YouTube if you have 8.5 hours to spare. It's worth it. Oh and in 1968, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was 28 years old. We don't quite know how we ended up in the same room as him, but we're going to roll with it and try to learn as much as possible.
Which bring us to Theatre for a New Audience. We met Artistic Director Jeffrey Horowitz in 2012 after our album Bremen had just come out. A few months later he saw The Old Man and The Old Moon. After a few quick conversations, it became a goal of ours to find a way to work together. Mr. Horowitz, and TFANA, are an embodiment of passion for great writing and dedication to the artist. They've produced some of the best plays we've seen in New York City. We're lucky to have them so close to home.
Now as far as new original PigPen stuff you can look forward to - we've been hard at work on our newest original play with music, The Hunter and The Bear, in collaboration with Manhattan Theatre Club and Ars Nova. We'll hopefully have some exciting news to share with you all about that very soon. Additionally - we've just signed on to work on a new theatre show - our first adaptation! That's a little further away, but no less awesome.
Okay. This was really long. We'll leave you alone for a while now. Come see Pericles.
All our love,
PigPen