Written in 1843, Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Nightingale” is about an emperor in China who captures a nightingale that lives in his garden. At first enamored by the bird’s beautiful song, the emperor decides to keep the nightingale until he is given a gift of a mechanical bird.
The emperor forgets about the nightingale, replacing her with this mechanical facsimile. The nightingale flies away to her home in the garden, but when the emperor is taken ill, the nightingale returns to sing to him.
From June 6-22, this enchanting tale comes to the stage of the Children’s Creativity Museum in a revolutionary new way, as a circus performance. The People’s Circus Theater will present the story of “The Nightingale” with the acrobatic choreography of local talents Evan Tomlinson of Cirque du Soleil and Maya Kesselman Cruz of “Dear San Francisco.” According to Felicity Hesed, founder and artistic director of People’s Circus Theater, this new staging is “fresh and bold.” Hesed is also the writer and director of this production. Several of the performers identify as LGBTQ.
In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Hesed explained how the story of “The Nightingale” will be told.
Physical theater
“You know how a musical is a play with dialogue and a storyline and sometimes people break out in song and dance?” she asked. “Well, our show is similar, but instead of breaking out in song, people break out in circus. Yes, we have dialogue. Yes, it’s a full play and story. That being said, we do a lot of the storytelling visually and physically. We use acrobatics, aerial arts, and juggling, as well as dance and physical theater. It’s all rolled in together.”
Andersen’s story, as adapted by Hesed, draws inspiration from the original text, but has been updated for a modern audience. It is set in the near future, a time when income inequality is getting worse, and tech companies are buying up impoverished towns and turning them into company towns.
“Two of the main characters in the play that are not in the original are a young couple who live in this town,” Hesed said. “The husband, Sadit, works for the emperor and helps find the nightingale for him. Distraught that the emperor is holding the nightingale captive, Sadit invents a robot bird as a replacement in the hopes of freeing the nightingale. Our show takes off from there and goes in a pretty different direction, but you’ll have to come to the show to see.”
Hesed also spoke about the advantages of staging the show in a small theater.
“I actually love doing circus shows in a small theater like Children’s Creativity Museum, because it’s so intimate,” she said. “The audience can almost reach out and touch the performers. The audience will see them sweat and hear them breathing. I love how genuine and visceral it is. It is a great benefit for our style of work. Since our performers speak, it allows them to do so without needing microphones. I like that the audience can see the details of the acting and emotion. I love the intimate experience the audience has of watching this moving and emotionally potent work in a small space together.”
The B.A.R. also spoke to Cruz, who addressed the challenges of choreographing one show while working in another.
“Doing seven shows a week is very demanding physically and mentally so I have been extremely grateful to the cast of ‘The Nightingale’ for making it easier on me by coming into the theater and training in between shows,” she said. “I finish one show, eat as quickly as I can so I can go back onstage to work with the cast who comes to the theater to work with me. Even though I need rest in between shows, it energizes me to work with new ideas and the cast members are always so motivated and positive it has been a joy to work with them.”
Modern tale
Cruz also spoke about the challenges of adapting a fairy tale into a circus performance.
“Getting the story to come across using body language, eye contact and acrobatics,” she said. “A lot of the time in circus performances the creators have the freedom to inject whatever emotions or story they want and allow the audience to receive that information or emotion without necessarily needing a clear storyline. Here, there is one that we want the audience to understand and to take the journey with us. That’s why I think mixing theater in with the circus helps tell the story while the circus can bring a little more whimsy.”
Hesed is recommending “The Nightingale” for ages seven and up. She pointed out that while younger children may enjoy it, it might be difficult for them to sit through the whole thing, and that some parts of the show might be scary for them. The storyline, she said, is really for teens and adults, and wants adults to know that they shouldn’t feel silly about attending a show at the Children’s Creativity Museum.
“People’s Circus Theater is working to re-envision what it means to do and see theater,” she said. “We are appealing to non-theatergoers with our innovative staging that combines the fast-paced thrill of circus with the emotional hook of stories. We are also trying to develop a sustainable model for arts creation by building the infrastructure to support working artists at a time when the arts are often left behind.”
‘The Nightingale,’ June 6-22, Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm & 7pm, Sundays at 2pm. $28.50-$53. Children’s Creativity Museum Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens, 221 4th St.
https://peoplescircustheatre.org/
https://creativity.org/
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