Handspring Puppet Company

Monteverdi’s opera Il ritorno d’Ulisse wrestles with human vulnerability in the face of inevitable demise. In this “ingenious and heartbreakingly beautiful” production (San Francisco Chronicle), The Return of Ulysses explores the idea of human longing and faith using puppetry by Handspring Puppet Company (War Horse) and imagery by William Kentridge. Superb vocalists perform the exquisite score based on Homer’s Odyssey as the dying hero, posed before animated scenes of crumbling temples and ghostly palimpsests, confronts his own frail destiny wrought by Time, Fortune, and Love.
“Ingenious and heartbreakingly beautiful.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“The puppets themselves embody the notion of mortals as playthings of the gods.”
—New York Times
William Kentridge, director
Ricercar Consort
Philippe Pierlot, musical director and arrangements
- Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
Downloads
- These performances will be followed by a White Light Lounge.
- Post-performance artist discussion on November 15 with Adrian Kohler, Basil Jones, and Ara Guzelimian
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
There is no late seating.
Commissioned with funding from KunstenFESTIVAL des Arts, La Monnaie/De Munt, the Flemish Government, Wiener Festwochen (Vienna)
Produced by La Monnaie/De Munt (Brussels), Handspring Puppet Company (Johannesburg), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), KunstenFESTIVALdesArts (Brussels), and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Tickets
Monday, November 14 at 7:30Tuesday, November 15 at 7:30
Wednesday, November 16 at 7:30