Handcart Ensemble

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Paul Muldoon on Handcart’s The Burial at Thebes

“I simply can’t imagine a better production of The Burial at Thebes. Handcart Ensemble is a spectacularly gifted group, absolutely equal to the subtleties of Heaney’s text. I’ll go anywhere to see anything they do.” —Paul Muldoon

[graphic design by P. Brandon Jameson]

written by Kaj Munk

translated by RP Keigwin

Our production of Ordet by Danish playwright Kaj Munk brought new life to rich, provocative material that tends to be under-performed. Through its portrayal of a Danish farming family, Ordet deals in a penetrating and human way with the host of issues raised by religious belief in modern life, including the dangers of ideological rigidity and the life-giving power of childlike belief in the miraculous.

Originally staged in 1932, the play was later immortalized through Carl Dreyer’s film version, which won the 1956 Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Film. This film is routinely spoken of as having one of the most stirring climaxes ever put to celluloid. Whether you love Dreyer’s film, are intrigued with issues of faith, tolerance and modernity, have an interest in Scandinavia, or simply appreciate great theater, Ordet was not to be missed.

Photos

View Ordet photos in a new window

Schedule

There were 16 performances from Saturday March 13 through Saturday April 3, 2004, at Theatre 315 on W 47th St in Midtown Manhattan.

Cast

Bob Armstrong
Angela Brinton*
Barbara Ayres Bruno*
Jennifer Gawlik
Bob Harbaum*
Eric John
Dan Leeds
James Mack*
Tom Martin*
Lucy McMichael*
Todd Parmley*
Karlee Roberts
Joanne Rowland
Amanda Sprecher
Bill Tatum*
Director / Adapter J. Scott Reynolds
Assistant Director Norris Chappell
Costume Designer Nicole Frachiseur
Asst Costume Designer / Props Manager Valerie Baker
Lighting Designer Eric Cope
Marketing & Publicity Lisa Rezac
Music Composer Lansing McLoskey
Set Designer Douglas Flandro

Ordet on Other Sites

Film Sites

carldreyer.com
filmjourney.org

Scandinavian Sites

Consulate General of Denmark
Danish Seamen’s Church
Swedish/Scandinavian Press

Theater Listings

BroadwayWorld.com
CurtainUp
The New York Theatre Experience
OOBR (“the off-off-broadway review”)
SmartTix
Talkin’ Broadway
TheaterMania.com
Theatre Development Fund

Message Boards

AllAccessWorld.com

About Us

Old Wine in New Bottles

Handcart Ensemble produces new adaptations, new translations, and new works for the theater, drawing primarily from classical sources. Read our mission statement for more information.

Gearing Up for 2008/09

Thanks to our patrons for supporting Oedipus at Colonus, touted by NYTheatre.com as “another feather in Handcart’s cap as the city’s most reliable and interesting presenter of contemporary renditions of classic theatre texts.” Our one-night benefit performance of W.B. Yeats’s Purgatory was another success, its sell-out box office returns laying the groundwork for an ambitious 2008/09 season that will include Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood as you’ve never seen it before. Watch for more details on this thrillingly crafted production, arriving in New York after years of development and acclaim at international theater festivals…

Copyright © 2001 - 2008 Handcart Ensemble. Last updated January 20, 2007