THE PLAY OF DANIEL

PREMIERE

28 December 1994

Kreuzherrenkirche Düsseldorf

A CO-PRODUCTION OF THEATER DER KLÄNGE WITH ESTAMPIE MUNICH

“All men and boys praise the ruler of the stars and the almighty God, when they hear what the faithful Daniel had to endure and to suffer, without wavering.”

from the original script, Beauvais 1230

In the Middle Ages, the rebirth of theatre in Europe took place inside churches. From the desire to portray biblical themes in vivid, moving form, plays were composed around various mysteries — first setting the biblical text to music, then enacting its story through song. The Ludus Danielis holds a singular position among medieval musical works: it was nothing less than the first attempt since antiquity to fuse drama and music — the invention of opera in the medieval world.

Theater der Klänge created its staging to music by the ensemble ESTAMPIE, which drew on an original manuscript written in 1230 by monks at the monastery of Beauvais, France. ESTAMPIE assigned specific instruments to each principal role; those instruments also provide the rhythmic basis for the dance.

Theater der Klänge focused on a church-space performance that translates the sung text into theatrical movement. Given the subject matter’s proximity to the Orient — Babylonia and Persia around 600 BC — the ensemble drew inspiration from Indian forms of dance drama. At the same time, the medieval figure of the travelling player was woven into the fabric of the work: these comedians appear between acts to comment on, parody and question the drama.

The production was a major public success at the Düsseldorf Kreuzherrenkirche at New Year 1994/95. In 1997, alongside The Birds, it was invited to Thessaloniki as European Capital of Culture. The collaboration with ESTAMPIE continued in 2004 with Gregorius upon the Stone and culminated in 2012 in the feature film of the same name.

Indian dance drama, medieval music and the exuberance of wandering players — the Ludus Danielis of Theater der Klänge was a piece of Western music and theatre history brought vividly back to life.