Part of TILT Kids Festival 2019
The brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm spent years gathering the folklore of northern Europe, collecting countless versions of dozens of tales, often changing the story to spare bourgeois sensibilities. Inspired by their work, Olivier Py has molded their stories into a musical for young audiences, introducing them to the mysteries and conventions of “real” theater without condescension or sentimentality.
Based on The Girl Without Hands, The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill tells the story of a naïve father who makes a deal with the devil without realizing that this bargain comes with the sacrifice of his own daughter. Fearful of the devil’s revenge, he cuts off both her hands. But the young girl flees and begins a journey fraught with perils that introduce universal questions about death, evil, love, war, memory, and fidelity.
The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill is the first English language production of La Jeune Fille, le Diable et le Moulin, which premiered at the Centre dramatique national of Sartrouville in 1993 as part of Heyoka, and re-premiered at the 2014 Festival d’Avignon. A special commission for TILT 2019, the play has been re-created by Py with an American cast.
Performance will be followed by a Q&A with the cast and director.
Cast
Alex Burnette, The Prince
Nadia Duncan, The Girl
Whit K. Lee, The Devil
Ben Rauch, The Gardener
Creative Team
Text & Direction: Olivier Py
Assistant Director: Bertrand de Roffignac
English Translation: Nicholas Elliott
Music: Stéphane Leach
Lighting: Bertrand Killy
Stage Managers: Clarissa Ligon, Emily Paige
Wardrobe Supervisor: Eleanor O’Connell
Design & Fabrication, US Tour: Crozier Studio
Casting: Stephanie Klapper C.S.A.
Producer: Festival d’Avignon
Executive Producer: French Institute Alliance Française