Posted July 2, 2009

acclaimed ensemble & local artists team up on site-specific performance based on illustrations by Marc Chagall

Double Edge Theatre
The Arabian Nights
based upon illustrations by Marc Chagall
Directed by Stacy Klein
Wednesdays-Sundays, July 29-Aug 22 8 PM Rain or Shine
948 Conway Rd, Ashfield, MA
General Admission: $20
Students/Seniors: $17
Children: $15

Info: 413-628-0277
Box Office: 866-811-4111
www.doubleedgetheatre.org/arabian.php

July 2, 2009. This month, in American Theatre magazine, Editor-in-Chief, Jim O'Quinn calls Double Edge: "a troupe of extraordinary artists for whom life and art have indelibly converged." A profile of the company calls their summer spectacle "unpredictable and imaginative." Double Edge Theatre’s annual traveling Summer Spectacle has become one of the most widely anticipated events in the region. Since 2002, Double Edge has transformed its 100-acre Farm Center in Ashfield into an imaginary world drawn from street theatre, carnival, pageantry, live instrumental music, incredible visuals, puppetry, and adventurous acting, created by the acclaimed, multi-national ensemble. This summer, Double Edge will be bringing both story and painting to life in their newest summer spectacle, The Arabian Nights. Like the pages of a picture-book coming alive before your eyes, this piece draws inspiration from the lively, exquisite illustrations of The Arabian Nights by Marc Chagall to create episodes from the most beloved and magical stories: Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, the love story of Jullanar of the Sea, Abdullah the Fisherman, the Ebony Horse, and many more. Audiences follow the action through pastures, gardens, orchards, forests, fields, streams, an idyllic pond, and inside the theatre’s intimate barn space. This is an especially remarkable year, as a group of over 25 artists, actors, and musicians – many of them local visual artists volunteering their time and work – have created a world of wonder and imagination that includes toy theatre, giant puppets, flying carpets and people, otherworldly masks and underwater tableaux, all accompanied by vocal and instrumental music.

Past Summer Spectacles have been based on Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers, The Master and Margarita, and the legends of King Arthur. After one performance that ended beside a moonlit pond under the starry Ashfield sky, Terry Byrne of the Boston Globe wrote:

“The audience is left with the feeling of being transported, if only briefly, to a legendary place where magic is within reach and where the natural world offers unexpected wonders.”

The Arabian Nights will open for previews on July 29, offering pageantry and puppetry, stilts and songs, humor, magic and excitement for all audiences. Fusing Double Edge’s intimate performance style with live, original music and daring circus arts, this spectacle will bring to life a world at once surreal and magical, yet deeply human and close to home. Tickets are on sale now. Don’t miss the chance to join Double Edge for what has become a regular summer event. Arabian Nights has something for the whole family, and promises all the adventure that Double Edge’s summer spectacles have become known for.

Double Edge Box Office/ Info For ticket information contact the Double Edge office: 413.628.0277
To buy tickets call: 866-811-4111
Or go online: www.doubleedgetheatre.org/arabian.php

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