LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL is an international and intercultural dance theatre piece, based on a true story, starring Andrea Vagn Jensen (DK), Tiziana Fracchiolla (ZA/DK), and Samuel Prince Ibanda (UG). Told through the medium of word and dance, we follow the circumstance of a Danish anthropologist studying the mythologies of the African continent. While she is living there, she is a witness to her family’s murder.
“A provocative journey of [Denmark’s] and the African continent’s existence and identity in a unique blend of music, performance, theatre and dance.”
AOK.dk – 4 stars
The Danish anthropologist is hospitalised. She recedes inwards, disappears within herself, and attempts to confront her tragedy through the lens she has always used – the stories she has dedicated herself to – the legends of Africa and of Scandinavia. The work explores the nature of death and loss, the impact of this kind of trauma on the psyche, and we follow the anthropologist deeper and deeper into her own subconscious and shifting realities. Words fall short in the face of such a tragedy, and in LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL, the inherent imperfection of words spoken becomes a perfect medium for the fractured experience of overwhelming grief. Meanwhile, dancers breathe life to the symbolism and mythology of these ancient cultures.
This work was the result of an international collaboration between Lynch Company, Dansescenen Theatre, and the National Theatre of Uganda. The work received financial support from the Danish Arts Agency, Kunststyrelsen, the DCCD (Danish Centre for Cultural Development), UNICEF Denmark, The National Theatre of Uganda, Amakula Kampala Film Festival, and the Institute Français in Uganda. Look Homeward Angel first premiered in 2010 at Dansescenen Teater (now Dansehallerne), Copenhagen.
DETAILS:
ORIGINAL CAST:
- Dance: Tiziana Fracchiolla (South Africa) / Samuel Prince Ibanda (Uganda)
- Acting: Andrea Vagn Jensen (Denmark)
- Text: Stuart Lynch
- Direction and choreography: Stuart Lynch
- Sound and music composition: Jørgen Teller
- Lighting Design: Michael Breiner
- Costume: Camilla Lind
- Production Manager: Eva Ulvan Handberg
- Photography: Per Morten Abrahamsen