House of Rat (formerly Bureau Dégradé)
Light design for a theatre play by David Geysen about the tumultuous life and work relationship of poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.
About
Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes are considered the leading poets of their generation (1950s and 1960s). Two authors, each with a powerful voice who gave poetry a personal twist. They had a stormy marriage divided between the United Kingdom (Ted’s homeland) and the United States of America (Sylvia’s native country).
Plath (1932 – 1963) suffered a severe form of depression during her short lifetime. She eventually committed suicide at the age of 30 by putting her head in the oven. She left everything and everyone behind: her work, her dreams, her Ted and their children Frieda and Nicholas.
Hughes (1930 – 1998) lost his second wife and child by suicide in exactly the same way as Sylvia years later. After Sylvia’s death Ted became the proprietor of her personal and literary legacy. He destroyed her final diary in which she described their last years together. It never became fully clear why he did this. He published Birthday Letters, an answer to Sylvia’s poetry collection Ariel. Ariel is Sylvia’s best-known work, it appeared posthumously and made her world famous. Her suicide note to the world.
David Geysen and Beaudil Elzenga delved deeper into the lives and work of these two particularly talented poets. Beaudil and David not only read their work, their letters and their diaries but also went on a trip to the UK in search of the ghosts of Ted and Sylvia. While on this trip they also contacted Plath’s and Hughes’ relatives. For Elzenga and Geysen Sylvia & Ted is partly intertwined with their own lives, as artists, lovers and young parents. They made it into a very vulnerable and poignant performance.
Credits
cast: Beaudil Elzenga & David Geysen
text: David Geysen
sound design & music: Carl Beukman
light design: Jorg Schellekens
scenography: Vasilis Apostolatos
costume design: Chiron Floris
acting coach: Willibrord Keesen
film: Mischa Lind
technician: Robert Schmidt
production management: Alec Martel
Première
27 March 2022, Theater Kikker (Utrecht, NL)