ELEANOR BURKE. 555: VERLAINE EN PRISON.
‘De la musique avant toute chose’ (Paul Verlaine, L’Art Poetique)
555: Verlaine en prison explores the poet's tragic and turbulent life and his time spent in Mons prison. Featuring music from composers including Debussy, Hahn and Fauré as well as Verlaine's poetry and letters.
The piece premiered at La Monnaie/De Munt and toured to Centre Culturel de Colfontaine in Mons, the town where Verlaine was imprisoned. Other performance venues include the Crush Room in the Royal Opera House and the Arcola Theatre at the Grimeborn Opera Festival in London.
Writer/Countertenor: Logan Lopez Gonzalez
Writer/Director: Eleanor Burke
Actor: Anna Sideris
Pianist: Stella Marie Lorenz
Photography: Simon Van Rompay (De Munt) / Laurent Compagnon (Arcola)
OPERA TODAY
“A TENDER AND TROUBLED PORTRAIT OF POETIC PROFUNDITY”
“REAPED HUGE EMOTIONAL AND DRAMATIC REWARDS.”
★★★★★ OPERA MAGAZINE
“NO PRAISE IS HIGH ENOUGH”
“GONZALES HELD THE AUDITORIUM IN THRALL THROUGHOUT AN HOUR IN WHICH HIS PHYSICAL ACTING WAS AS INTENSE AS HIS SINGING.”
“[VERLAINE’S] UGLY CHARACTER’S DETERIORATION WAS SWEATILY CONVINCING YET SO IMPROBABLY MOVING THAT ONLY AFTERWARDS DID I FEEL GUILTY FOR EMPATHIZING WITH AN ABUSER.”
“IT WAS AN AWARD-WORTHY ACHIEVEMENT TUCKED AWAY IN A DIM CORNER OF THE LONDON SEASON.”
★★★★★ PLAYS TO SEE
“LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALEZ.. HAS A STILLNESS THAT DOMINATES THE STAGE OF THE ARCOLA STUDIO. HIS VOICE IS EXPRESSIVE – RANGING FROM SERENE BEAUTY TO HARSH DESPAIR”
“THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN VOICES AND PIANO IS FINELY JUDGED AND THE PERFORMANCES REACH HIGH STANDARDS OF EXPRESSIVE BEAUTY.”
“ANNA SIDERIS AND PIANIST STELLA MARIE LORENZ ARE ENTIRELY IN TUNE WITH THE MOOD AND SHAPE OF THE PIECE”
EVERYTHING THEATRE
“IT SUCCEEDS IN CREATING A HAUNTING, POETIC ATMOSPHERE THAT CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF HIS ARTISTIC SPIRIT. FOR LOVERS OF FRENCH POETRY AND MUSIC, THIS PRODUCTION PROVIDES A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE VERLAINE’S WORDS BROUGHT TO LIFE IN A TRULY IMMERSIVE WAY.”
“THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN SIDERIS, WHO SKILFULLY PORTRAYS ALL SIDE CHARACTERS, AND GONZALEZ IS A STANDOUT ELEMENT OF THE PRODUCTION. THEIR SYNERGY IS PALPABLE, CONVEYED THROUGH BOTH SIDERIS’ NUANCED ACTING AND GONZALEZ’S EMOTIVE SINGING.”
“ALONGSIDE PIANIST STELLA MARIE LORENZ, HE [LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALEZ] DELIVERS A SERIES OF NUANCED, CAPTIVATING PERFORMANCES THAT BRING VERLAINE’S POETRY TO LIFE.”
PLANET HUGILL
“A SUBTLE DEPICTION OF A COMPLEX MAN”
“THIS WAS AN ENCHANTING EVENING IN THE THEATRE, WITH THE THREE PERFORMERS ALL BEING MESMERISING IN THEIR OWN PARTICULAR WAY.”
MARK ASPEN REVIEWS
“ELEANOR BURKE’S DIRECTION IS SUBTLE AND EFFECTIVE”
“WE HAVE SOME GLORIOUS SINGING FROM COUNTERTENOR LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALEZ…HE ENTRANCES WITH HIS LONG BEAUTIFULLY SUSTAINED HIGH NOTES AT THE END OF THE SENSUOUS PHRASES. THIS IS JUST GORGEOUS.”
A YOUNG(ISH) PERSPECTIVE
“THE USE OF COUNTERTENOR SEEMS TO FOCUS ON [VERLAINE’S] INTOXICATING AND ETHEREAL FRAGILITY THAT GOES HAND IN HAND WITH HIS OWN POETRY.”
FRINGE REVIEW
“THE WRITERS ELEANOR BURKE AND LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALES HAVE CREATED AN INSIGHTFUL WORK ABOUT VERLAINE’S LIFE”
“LOPEZ GONZALES RISES TO GREAT DRAMA WITH VERY INTENSE MOMENTS BRINGING ABOUT A REAL CLIMAX OF THE STORY”
“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED”
LONDON PUB THEATRES MAGAZINE
“A FASCINATING STORY OF LOVE, PASSION, AND VIOLENCE’”
“THRILLING”
“THE STAGECRAFT OF THIS PRODUCTION WAS A HIGHLIGHT THROUGHOUT, SUCCESSFULLY CONVEYING, AND EVOKING, THE EMOTIONAL WEIGHT OF EACH SCENE.”
