A MAGICAL classical tale will go from page to stage as it comes to Maidenhead as part of it’s Autumn tour this week.
Dance company Protein will perform The Little Prince through a mix of dance, humour, words and music as it comes to Norden Farm from tomorrow.
Stranded in the desert, a pilot meets a boy who tells him a story on how he left his own tiny asteroid and travelled through the universe.
And director Luca Silvestrini said he is “really excited” to get the production back on stage again after the tour was cut short in March last year.
After falling in love with The Little Prince book when he was a teenager, Luca said it was a story he always wanted to direct.
“When I got commissioned to put on a family show a few years back I was asked to use an existing story to make it more accessible,” he said.
“I was really intrigued to turn this well-known story into a full show and it’s just been fascinating to dig into the lines of the book and turn it into imagery.”
Having toured the show for around three years, Luca said audiences always go away talking and thinking about it.
“I wanted to make something families of all ages could share as an experience together,” he added.
“It’s a story that speaks to both children and adults because they can connect to the the characters and what they go through.
“It’s full of important messages and morals and that’s what I think makes it quite universal and valuable as a story.”
Luca explained it’s been interesting to turn the book into a 360 experience.
He made sure to balance the lighting, music, costume and animation so his direction didn’t undermine the story.
“I’ve been fairly loyal to the original story and have even used the imagery based on the drawing,” he said.
“Although I’ve main some small changes to clarify the characters, I’ve not changed anything to do with the main structure.”
Luca added there’s a sense of relief in getting the show back on stage.
“It’s been exciting and strange at the same time to get back into it,” he said.
“It’s been so difficult for performers to go into full days training again after such a long time and it’s satisfying to finally be doing what we all love again.”
He said that his most enjoyable part of directing the show has been developing the characters.
“It’s been interesting to adopt all sorts of different languages to make the characters impactful and for the message in the story to come across,” he added.
“The story is all about the many falls of growing up and it’s been great to break it down in parts and then approaching it with the performers on bringing the story to life.”
Performances run from Wednesday, October 27 to Saturday, October 30.
Tickets cost £12 for adults and £10 for under 16s.
For more details, or to book, call the box office on 01628 788997, or log on to: norden.farm
