As a part of its autumn season, HOME hosts the world premiere of The Emperor. Actor Kathryn Hunter, director Walter Meierjohann and playwright Colin Teevan will be collaborating once again for this production, following their success with Kafka’s Monkey, which garnered both critical and popular praise last summer. The Emperor is a co-production between HOME, the Young Vic and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, and is based on Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński’s remarkable 1978 account of the collapse of Haile Selassie’s rule, who was monarch of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Accompanied by live music performed by Temesgen Zeleke, leader of London-based Ethiopian three-piece Krar Collective, the performance features Hunter as a master of storytelling. In a kingdom obsessed with title and tradition, everyone from the lowly to the loyal have mesmerising stories to tell. Creating a captivating cast of characters, the award-winning actress and director narrates the tales of servants to a despotic ruler on the brink of downfall and explores the themes of corruption, greed and unbridled power.
Wed 28 Aug – Sat 8 Oct, HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester, M15 4FN, Tel: 0161 200 1500, 7.30pm (plus 2pm Sat matinee), £10 – £26.50, homemcr.org
- Words:
- Jenny Davies
- Published on:
- Tue 16 Aug 2016
