The Story of Gilgamesh continues with new film, unveiling the tyrannical young king
Macnas, the masters of storytelling and spectacle, have just released Legend Of Gilgamesh: Ep. 2, the second in a series of stunning short films depicting the ancient and exhilarating legend of Gilgamesh, which you can watch below. Firmly rooted in the city and landscape of Galway, this is a beautiful Macnas-infused interpretation of an EPIC story, the first ever hero’s journey which was written over 3,000 years ago!
The project was originally conceived as a creative programme of large scale public performances in celebration of Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture, however Covid-19 has seen Macnas go back to the drawing board to deliver a remarkable, reimagined vision in the form of a digital storybook, Gilgamesh Experience, unfolding online at Macnas.com
Macnas will bring new life to the legend of Gilgamesh, with 3 short films rolling out between September and December 2020 and an extraordinary finale early next year.
A stellar team of local and international talent have collaborated to shapeshift and translate this mythical story for a whole new audience online. Director Noeline Kavanagh and playwright Marina Carr are joined by cinematographer Colm Hogan, Tony Award-nominated designer Julian Crouch, co-designer Orla Clogher and costume designer Cherie White, with music and soundscapes from composer and sound designer Nick Powell. Executive Producer is Artichoke.
The story explores contemporary themes of human relationships, power, corruption, loneliness, friendship, loss, love, revenge, mortality and death. It centres on Gilgamesh, a tyrannical young king who rules the city of Uruk (Galway). Two thirds god, one third man, Gilgamesh is bored, beautiful and obsessed with fame. A cruel and unjust king, he wants to find the secret to immortality, become a God and live forever. The citizens of Uruk cry out to the Gods for help. The Gods listen and create Enkidu, a wild young warrior sent down from the heavens to rival Gilgamesh and challenge his quest to live forever. Join Macnas to see Gilgamesh forge battles, wreak havoc on his citizens and meet his match in the wild warrior Enkidu.
The first film, Legend Of Gilgamesh: Ep. 1 (released in September), features Enlil, father of the Gods and an enemy of Gilgamesh, as he observes from the heavens a city and people living under the repressive rule of the young Gilgamesh, wreaking havoc and chaos on all around him in his quest for immortality. The second episode is, once again, narrated by Seán McGinley as Enlil, as he looks down on the majestic city of Uruk (Galway), a “city of canals and palaces, libraries and temples. Jewel of jewels.” Here we are introduced for the first time to the imposing and majestic 12ft tall Gilgamesh on his throne at the Palace of Ishtar, as Enlil hauntingly reminds us of the young king’s tyrannical ways “You will gorge on your savage crimes… to the last rotting morsel.”
This dramatic new interpretation of the world’s oldest story, Gilgamesh is a Galway 2020 commission for the European Capital of Culture celebrations and sees Macnas take its traditional theatre and storytelling into new outdoor and digital territories, bringing the contemporary themes of this ancient origin story to life. The third short film is due for release in early December with the much anticipated concluding finale to follow in 2021.
You can visit the Gilgamesh Experience and soak up all it has to offer right HERE.
Thanks to Lisa Regan PR for the information. Photos by Colm Hogan
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