OMPHALOS
OMPHALOS debuted at Theatre Peckham in August 2021 with two sold-out shows. It was staged again in the Divinity Schools, Cambridge, in December 2021 directed and created by Blue Pieta.
In Ancient Greece the ‘omphalos’ was a stone that marked the naval of the universe, the piece is a flaring of this centre. In Omphalos the two parallel archetypes of Joan of Arc and the Virgin Mary are choreographed into a surreal depiction of Paradise. In which a bored housewife turns into a fox, the messiah meets Marilyn Monroe at a funeral wake, the Wailing Wall becomes flesh in an act of holy surgery and two children are trapped under ice. All accompanied by ancestral Arabic, Sephardic, Greek and Hebrew songs. Through the metamorphosis of sound and body a single axis remains integral throughout the story – Love.
Film and Trailer are available on request
CREDITS
Blue Pieta - Producer, Writer, director, choreographer, dancer
Charis Taplin - Writer, director, choreographer, dancer
Elinor Arden - Music Designer, singer
Jessica Raja-Brown - Singer
Ynys Barnard Masterson - Flamenco guitarist
Katharine Gifford - Kahon player
Ben Zombory Maldoven - Set designer
Flora Sharp - Costume designer
Linnea Skoglosa - Filmmaker, projection designer
Emily Morely - Cinematographer
Daisy Corder - Stage Manager
Photos taken by Isolda Frabregat @isolda_photography
Abodunrin Akinfenwa @emtyshotsand Winnie Zhu @woubleuzed