After decades of being hidden in a box, away from public view, thousands of theatregoers around the world have had the chance to see a massive 9x15-metre painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí, which takes centre stage in La Verità, a production by the Switzerland-based Compagnia Finzi Pasca.
Dalí created the scrim, or fabric stage backdrop, for the ballet Mad Tristan at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1944. Boxed up soon after, it was rediscovered and finally returned to the stage last year.
Now, Abu Dhabi audiences have a chance see the masterpiece while 13 acrobats and dancers perform La Verità (The Truth) – a stage show inspired by the painting that brings to life figments of the artist's imagination. The show runs from today until August 31 at Adnec.
The big picture
The Mad Tristan painting by Dalí was inspired by the German composer and theatre director Richard Wagner's three-act, 1850s musical drama Tristan & Isolde. The backdrop depicts Tristan, a Cornish knight, and Isolde (also known as Iseult), an Irish princess, from a 12th-century Celtic legend. Dalí, who was known to stand on his head for long hours to induce hallucinatory images, portrays their story through symbolism.
Two obscure figures are presented in a desert, one robed and with a wheelbarrow extending from its back and the other is a figure with a dandelion on its head and ants crawling on its body.
The ants represent death and decay in Dalí’s paintings. It is believed that the artist used the imagery in several paintings because he once saw a wounded bat being devoured by ants and he impulsively bit into the creature.
Expressing Dalí
For Daniele Finzi Pasca, La Verità's director, the scrim was a starting point to delve deeper into Dalí's psyche. When his team started working on portraying Dalí's work on stage, they wanted to show a side of the artist that was not known to many.
“We undertook extensive research on his life,” says Pasca, who is best known for his work with Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Éloize and for directing the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Pasca says his team wanted details of Dalí’s life. “Where he grew up, what he studied – trying to find small details we could incorporate into our production. We wanted to match his level of eccentricity in our show.”
Pasca says their story aims to touch upon moments from the years when Dalí was approaching his death.
“At the time he was more fragile, delusional and was affected by the loss of his wife Gala,” says Pasca. “We have tried to describe and understand the end of his life, that was the more secretive part.
“But at the same time, we have tried to create something emotional that people would be able to relate to, even if they don’t know Salvador Dalí.”
Depicted in a non-linear fashion, the production will include multiple acts, aerial stunts, a pianist in a rhinoceros costume, a performer dancing on a piano and clown acts during transitions.
Touring the world
Since the show’s premiere in Montreal, Dalí’s backdrop has travelled all over Latin America, Europe, Taiwan and China. It will be transported by air to the capital under the watchful eyes of two trained technicians. “It isn’t complicated as it was made to be used extensively in such productions,” says Pasca.
The theatre company holds a special unveiling ceremony in every city, where the backdrop is put on display and its history explained.
Pasca says they will use a copy of the painting during the show in Abu Dhabi and unveil the original to the audience right at the end.
• La Verità runs from today until August 31 at Adnec. Tickets, priced from Dh200, are available from www.alchemy-project.com
aahmed@thenational.ae
