The ancient ascetic’s 'primordial howl' reverberates into the 21st century, with otherwordly choreography and a transcendent avant-pop score for harp, strings, woodwinds, and junkyard percussion. A sublime multi-sensory meditation on being and belief in the age of information.
A shape-shifting ensemble of actors and musicians will guide you through a carnivale of holy terrors and ecstatic hallucinations...
The secret location, near Grand Central Market, will be revealed to the uninitiated upon booking. The performance runs for 75 minutes. Join us after the show for a late-night line-up of performances from our favorite LA musicians in our transcendental salon, La Bibliothèque Fantastique.
superb ensemble... flawless orchestra...
one of the best original scores in recent LA memory”
Synopsis
St. Antony has shut himself high up in the inner mountain with only his sacred texts for company. Late at night, mythic phantasms leap out of the pages to challenge his fixed understanding of the universe. Seduced by the Queen of Sheba, hosted by King Nebuchadnezzar, entranced by gnostic shamans, and serenaded by gods, monsters and mythical beasts, Antony's quest flings him between an unknowable past and a terrifying future.
a visually immersive gem”
Music
Mat Diafos Sweeney and Ellen Warkentine's score weaves ancient desert timbers and Romantic-era reverie into a soulful and psychedelic dreamscape. The hermit’s cavern resounds with mystic mountain chants and interdimensional spirituals from our acclaimed international ensemble of multi-instrumentalists. This virtuosic chamber orchestra unearths an acoustic shangri-la from classical and folk instruments and a junkpile of found and rediscovered objects, accented by hypnotizing vocals.
Artists
Created and Presented by Four Larks
Directed by Matthew Diafos Sweeney and Choreographed with Sebastian Peters-Lazaro
Arranged and Adapted from Gustave Flaubert's La Tentation de St Antoine by Matthew Diafos Sweeney (Concept and Performance Score) & Jesse Rasmussen (Lyrics)
Music by Ellen Warkentine & Matthew Diafos Sweeney
Scenic, Costume, and Properties Design by Sebastian Peters-Lazaro & Regan Baumgarten
Lighting Design by Brandon Baruch
Sound Designed by Danny Echevarria
Promotional Photography by Michael Amico Make-Up by Alessandro Rumie
Max Baumgarten
The Hermit
Esther Hannaford
The Queen of Sheba, Sophia, Cybelle
Paula Rebelo
Ammonaria, Isis, Lust, Death
Zachary Carlisle Sanders
The Gymnosophist, Mani, Apollo
Eli Weinberg
King Nebuchadnezzar, Valentine, Bacchus
Ellen Warkentine
Piano & Clarinet
Danny Echevarria
Violin
Prudence Rees-Lee
Cello
Matthew Proffitt
Trombone
Katherine Redlus
Harp
Josiah Miller
Percussion
