"Playing with Orpheus"
Arts & Humanities Festival 2016: PLAY
21 October 2016
Grand Hall - King's College London

In 1956, Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes premiered on stage in Rio de Janeiro, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and scenic design by Oscar Niemeyer. Soon after, the play inspired the films, Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus, 1959) and Orfeu (1999), and the musicals, Orfeu (Brazil, 2010) and Black Orpheus (Broadway, 2014). This play took the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and placed it within the setting of the contemporary favela in Rio de Janeiro during the Brazilian Carnival. 

"Playing with Orpheus" sought to re-enact Moraes's Orfeu da Conceição, accompanying it with Claudio Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo, Brazilian capoeira and other rhythms. This experience involved singers, actors, dancers, the King’s Brazil Ensemble, and, of course, the audience to play with Orpheus.

Music:
Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes; Claudio Monteverdi

Arrangement for Orchestra:
Stefan Metzger

Texts:
Vinicius de Moraes

Translation:
Prof. David Treece

Orpheus:
Dr. Felipe Botelho

Introduction and Coryphaeus:
Prof. Ananya Kabir

Maracatu:
Leoa Rhythm Collective (Dir: Alba Cabral and Tuca Milan)

Capoeira: 
Community of Practice and Studies of Capoeira Angola, Centre for Afro-Brazilian Studies, King’s Brazil Institute (Dr. Octavio Ferraz, Franziska Ferraz, Giacomo Picca, Fabio Picca, Cristina Rosa)

King's Brazil Ensemble

Violins:
YeYe Xu
Pei Ann Yeoh
Marisol Hillier
Javier Francisca
Lizzie Arnold

Viola:
Jocelyn Coates

Cello:
Dominic Blanchard

Double Bass:
Luiz Moreto

Flute:
Rachel Hayter

Trombone:
Benedikt Kuhnen

Harp:
Clara Gatti Comini

Guitar:
Jonathan Coote

Director: Dr. Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho

King's Brazil Ensemble