Using smoke, mirrors, water, music, song, and puppets of wood, rope and cork wireframe's 'The Lusiads' breathes new life into a 16th Century Portuguese epic poem. Performed entirely with puppets on a set of more than twenty hanging planks in an abandoned barge warehouse, wireframe's stunning production delighted audiences at The Museum Of, between 16 May - 3 June 2001.

'Os Lusíadas' is the greatest literary work in the Portuguese canon, an epic account of Vasco da Gama's expedition of 1497 to become the first European to round the Cape of Storms and find a sea route from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. The trade route to India transformed Europe and established the Portuguese as a major force in the growing trade empires of the 16th century.

In 1553, Luis Vaz de Camões, a minor noble, was sent on the same journey as part punishment for an affray. When he returned to Lisbon in 1572, he had made and lost fortunes in the East, been shipwrecked a number of times, and had produced an epic poem celebrating da Gama's epoch-defining voyage and the history and future of Portugal.

In collaboration with playwright Luis Domingues, wireframe created 'The Lusiads' as a new adaptation of Camões' epic...

Os Lusíadas sounds a triumphalist note, but amongst its rhetoric is a vein of concern about the slipping morals of the Portuguese governors in the East. This new version of the story draws on the poem but also introduces alongside da Gama's story that of the crew members on the 1497 expedition, of whom barely a third survived.

The Lusiads was designed specifically for the majestic space above The Museum Of, to complement 'The Museum of the River Thames', the final exhibition in the extraordinary Museum Of project. The Lusiads is a unique piece of puppet theatre on a large scale. Critical acclaim for this production includes:

"Innovative visual theatre company wireframe have been blazing a bit of a trail.. [the] suspended planks of timber perfectly suggest the motion of the ship in calm and stormy seas. Beautiful and imaginative use of sound and light add to the dream as it dissolves through smoke and water." - What's On

"...highly atmospheric." - The Guardian

"...an epic adventure.. wireframe has come up trumps.. endearing cork, wood and rope puppets beautifully fashioned.. It's to the puppeteers' credit that you can forget they are there, so life-like do they make their creations' actions appear." - Metro

"...the top floor of the Museum Of looks like the upturned hull of a long-wrecked ship, seething with ghosts and stories.. the perfect venue for wireframe's adaptation. ...epic, heroic.. striking tableaux.. Mervyn Millar's puppets, carved with cork and strung together with thick rope, look beautiful." - Time Out

For more information about THE LUSIADS, including its availability, please contact wireframe.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

From the poem by Luis Vaz de Camões
Adapted by Luis Domingues and Mervyn Millar 
Original text by Luis Domingues

Puppeteers: Mark Down, Bea Holland, Aya Kanai, James Marson, Marcus Reeves
Voice of Adamastor: Peter Marinker
Other Voices: Isabel Pessoa-Lopes, Luis Domingues, and members of the company            

Directed by Mervyn Millar 
Designed by Tamasin Rhymes 
Lighting Design by Ben Pacey 
Sound Design by Adam Keeper

Puppets Designed by Mervyn Millar
Costume Design by Julie Bowles 

Music by Marcus Reeves 

Puppet Makers: Mervyn Millar, Aya Kanai, Tracy Waller, Michael Fowkes, Ben Pacey
Assistant Puppet Designers: Aya Kanai, Tracy Waller 

Assistant Director: Aya Kanai 
Design Assistant: Amy Keeper 

Press: Luis Domingues, Ian Sweeney 

Photography: Aya Kanai, Ben Pacey 

Produced by Luis Domingues and wireframe