Mam Smith and Bernard White. Photo: Andre Costantini.
“... such light, such beauty, such air and life and time and timelessness as theater can, but too rarely does, bestow ... ” –Boston Globe

WINGS OF DESIRE

stage adaptation by Gideon Lester and Dirkje Houtman

after the film Wings of Desire (Himmel uber Berlin), directed by Wim Wenders, with screenplay by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke, and Richard Reitinger

In association with Toneelgroep Amsterdam

directed by Ola Mafaalani

WORLD PREMIERE

November 25 - December 17, 2006
at the Loeb Drama Center

ARTicles - ARTBlog - YouTube video - slide show - cast - synopsis - bookstore - poster - restaurants - more links

Based on Wim Wenders' unforgettable film, Wings of Desire is about the borders, visible and invisible, that divide us – borders between East and West, between angels and people, between two human beings. Damiel, a guardian angel,  falls in love with a lonely trapeze artist, sacrificing his wings and his immortality to join her on earth – and to taste human life.

For this stunning new stage adaptation the A.R.T. is partnering with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the Netherlands' premier theatre company. Wings of Desire is staged by Ola Mafaalani, one of Europe's most celebrated young directors, whose productions are contemporary, passionate, physical, and intensely alive.

Running time is approximately one hour forty minutes with no intermission.


translation by Gideon Lester & Ko van den Bosch aerial choreography by Mam Smith Frieda Pittoors, Hadewych Minis, and Fred Goessens are appearing with the permission of Actors’ Equity Association. The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance in this production.
set and lighting design by André Joosten stage manager Chris De Camillis
costume design by Regine Standfuss casting by Judy Bowman
music and sound design by Andy Moor dramaturgy by Gideon Lester & Ko van den Bosch

CAST

Damiel, an angel ... Bernard White
Cassiel, an angel ... Mark Rosenthal
Marion, a trapeze artist  ... Mam Smith
former angel  ... Stephen Payne
Homer, an immortal poet ... Frieda Pittoors
thoughts / live music  ... Jesse Lenat
... Hadewych Minis
newsreader  ... Robin Young
dying man ... Fred Goessens
child ... Andris Freimanis
the suicide ... Daniel Robert Pecci
Snack bar patrons: W. Kirk Avery, Jerome Quinn, Greta Merchant, Betty Milhendler
Mam Smith with Fedja van Huêt in a performance of
Wings of Desire in Amsterdam. Photo: Jan Versweyveld.

PHOTOS - click any image for slide show

YouTube Video: see Amsterdam performance images & much more in a short introductory film-

SYNOPSIS

Damiel and Cassiel are angels, assigned for eternity to observe and catalogue human behavior. Damiel has begun to yearn for more than his remote, spiritual existence; he yearns for human contact, for physical sensation, and for love. He encounters Marion, a lonely trapeze artist, and begins to fall in love with her. As the angels go about their daily business – helping those in distress, listening to the thoughts of the elderly and the dying, recording the diversity of human experience – Damiel grows increasingly restless. Eventually he decides to trade in his wings and his eternal life for human mortality, and to join Marion in the world.

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The Cinema of Wim Wenders
Alexander Graf

RELATED LINKS

Major Production Sponsors
Ted and Mary Wendell

Production Sponsors
Martha Cox and Andrew McKay

Additional Production Support provided by
The Netherland-America Foundation

Also made possible by a grant from
The Netherlands Culture Fund
The program set up by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education, Culture
& Science to strengthen the Netherlands’ international cultural relations

 
The Dutch Ministry
of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science
  

This page updated December 18, 2006
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