FIAF Presents Olivier Py's THE YOUNG GIRL, THE DEVIL, & THE MILL
By: Julie Musbach Feb. 21, 2019
The TILT Kids Festival 2019 opens at FIAF with The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill, a musical written and directed by celebrated theater maker and director of the world-renowned Festival d'Avignon, Olivier Py.
The brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm spent years gathering the folklore of northern Europe, collecting countless versions of dozens of tales, often changing the story to spare bourgeois sensibilities. Inspired by their work, Olivier Py molded their stories into a musical for young audiences, introducing them to the mysteries and conventions of "real" theater without condescension or sentimentality.
Based on the Grimms' fairy tale The Girl Without Hands, The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill tells the story of a naïve father who makes a deal with the devil without realizing that this bargain comes with the sacrifice of his own daughter. Fearful of the devil's revenge, he cuts off both her hands. But the young girl flees and begins a journey fraught with perils that introduce universal questions about death, evil, love, war, memory, and fidelity.
The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill is the first English language production of La Jeune Fille, le Diable et le Moulin, which premiered in 1993 at the Centre dramatique national of Sartrouville as part of Heyoka, and re-premiered at the 2014 Festival d'Avignon.
This English language production was specially commissioned for TILT Kids Festival 2019. Py has re-created his play with an American cast, introducing New York audiences to his poetic exploration of the journeys young people take as they begin to understand the complexities of human existence.
The cast includes Alex Burnette, Nadia Duncan, Whit K. Lee, and Ben Rauch. Text & Direction by Olivier Py, Assisted by Bertrand de Roffignac; English translation by Nicholas Elliott. Casting by Stephanie Klapper C.S.A.
Performances March 2 & 3 at 2pm, March 4 at 11am. Tickets may be purchased at fiaf.org
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