Desenhos de Cena / Scene Drawings: 12.08

15.12.08

Hansel & Gretel

It's one of the best children's plays I've ever seen and certainly the best Hansel & Gretel!

I've been working on a production of the opera version of the story for the Royal Opera House, in London.

Although this production at the Gulbenkian Theatre, at UKC, Kent, is on the other end of the scale in budget and size, Lyngo Theatre Company has made it into an amazingly magical stage space.
Travellings beds with hat-pillows, a soft sugary moon and racoonish witches will envolve you, adults and children, in a story of love and hunger, where the darkest of places can become home.

Their website: www.lyngo.co.uk

5.12.08

Although I'm still commuting every day to work, I've been doing it by train as a way to keep myself healthier and happier. So, quite a lot of reading going on. This is the latest and finest: Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.
As a fan of his work I'm probably not the best person to criticise it since I always think their're absolutely brilliant! Theatre, cinema, books, are all about the ability to storytell. Its detailing, imagination and above all the fantastic linked to the everyday make characters, objects, settings part of the readers' mind. A delight to read for both adults and children. The sort of books I'll keep on my shelves as jewellery to wear during hard times.
Joyous train rides!!!

BIO

Filipa Malva é cenógrafa e arquitecta. É doutorada em Estudos Artísticos pela Universidade de Coimbra e Mestre em Espaço de Performance pela Universidade de Kent. Tem desenvolvido trabalho regular como cenógrafa, figurinista, artista cénica e desenhadora.
Nos últimos quatro anos tem sido responsável pela cenografia e figurinos da Casa da Esquina, O Teatrão, a Cooperativa Bonifrates, os Macadame, os Cornalusa e o GEFAC, entre outros. É membro fundador da Associação Portuguesa de Cenografia.

Filipa Malva is a scenographer and architect. She has a doctorate degree in Art Studies/Theatre from the University of Coimbra and a masters in Performance Space from the University of Kent, UK. She is a freelance set and costume designer working with several theatre and music groups, such as O Teatrão, Casa da Esquina, around the Coimbra district. She also teaches regularly at the Art Studies course at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Coimbra. She is a founding member of the APCEN - Portuguese Association of Scenography and currently a recipient of a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Foundation for Science and Technology.