Lacrimosa

Song of the Goat Theatre

2005 – 2009
Character – Jan / Chorus, Tenor
Devised, premiered & toured internationally.

Based on one of the most tragic events of Medieval France. In 1485 the French town of Arras was attacked by the plague. Half of the town’s inhabitants died, but those who survived often did so at the cost of others. Three years after the plague subsided, the citizens decided to search out the “evil” which had provoked their atrocities. The “guilty” ones were found amongst the “outsiders” living in the town, amongst those who had survived the plague. The first ones to be hunted down were those of a different faith. Within two weeks one fifth of the town’s population was decimated. Jews and women were accused of witchcraft. Were the scapegoats of Arras and the offerings of blind superstition, prejudice and human ignorance.

A metaphor of the complex world of human emotions and passions which are often simply blind and cruel. Lacrimosa, based on Andrzej Szczypiorski’s book Mass for Arras. The music takes its source from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem”. The movement aspect of the performance was inspired by the “Anestenaria” cult, which has its roots in Greek antiquity. Those who cultivate it are called “firewalkers”, and it is one of the few remaining and still practiced possession cults in Europe.

Director: Grzegorz Bral
Costumes: Cristina Gonzalez
Music: arranged by MariaSendow;
based on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s: „Requiem”, „Dies Irae”, „Tuba Mirum”, „Rex Tremendae”, „Lacrimosa” i „Agnus Dei”