Ben Frost - The Wasp Factory

The Wasp Factory (Die Wespenfabrik)

A work of music theatre by Ben Frost, text by David Pountney,
after the novel by Iain Banks
The piece is for three performers, string quintet and electronics
In English with German subtitles

7.30 p.m., Werkstattbühne
Duration: 1 1/4 hours, no interval

Based on the best-selling novel by Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory has at its heart a quest for identity under the most outrageous circumstances. Abandoned by his mother and left to his own devices by his father, Frank grows up on a remote island. He styles himself as its ruler and adheres to a self-invented warrior cult. The return of his deranged half-brother Eric triggers a series of events that finally reveal the secret hidden in his father's locked laboratory…

The compositions of Ben Frost, an Australian who lives in Iceland, are as gripping as they enigmatic, beautiful and bizarre. His music is rich in contrasts; influenced by classical minimalism as well as genres like punk, rock and metal, Frost's textures seem to emerge from nothing and coalesce into huge, forbidding forms. The physical presence of his compositions can be felt as well as heard.

Price: 26 Euro
Introductory talk (in German) half an hour before the performance begins (admission free).

Director: Ben Frost
Stage designer: Mirella Weingarten
Costume designer: Boris Bidjan Saberi
Lighting designer: Lucy Carter
With: Jördis Richter, Mariam Wallentin, Lieselot De Wilde und Reykjavik Sinfonia.

Commissioned by Kunst aus der Zeit / the Bregenz Festival
A production of Hebbel am Ufer and Laura Berman_Next in co-production with Holland Festival and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in association with the Cork Midsummer Festival and Mercat de les Flors / Graner, Barcelona. Supported by the Capital Cultural Fund and Nordic Culture Point.