Clive Barker’s ‘THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL’ Starts This Week During Fantasia

While I’m not there, our guest contributor Jo Satana (Check out his posts here, here & here) is on the ground in Montreal checking out Fantasia. If anyone is in Montreal or at Fantasia, this is one ticket to get! Clive Barker’s The History of the Devil.

From the Press Release

FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL and TITLE 66 PRODUCTIONS present
A Special Theatre Event- three performances only!
The History of the Devil
Written by Clive Barker Directed by Jeremy Michael Segal
Thursday, August 1- Saturday, August 3, 2013

The Fantasia International Film Festival and Title 66 Productions are excited to present the remount of the acclaimed The History of the Devil, written by prominent author, film director and visual artist Clive Barker, playing at Place des Arts’ Cinquième Salle for three shows only, August 1-3. This visually stunning piece is the vision of Title 66 Productions’ Co-Directors Jeremy Michael Segal and Logan Williams. Segal is also the show’s director, and Williams the set and costume designer along with performing in the show. Using specially created masks, the gifted cast of eight play 34 characters spanning thousands of years in this powerful, one-of-a-kind production. Clive Barker wrote, “If this story is worth telling it’s because it’s about being human. The Devil’s tale is the tale of our own confusion, ego and inability to live without hope for Heaven.”

The History of the Devil tells the satiric tale of the Devil’s trial at the hands of the human race, with which he’s shared the world for millennia. If he can prove that it is humanity that is indeed culpable for his alleged crimes, he may return to paradise forever. In a theatrical eruption of darkness, philosophy and humour, a seductively wide range of characters travel through time to tell the Devil’s story. Whether it is angels falling from heaven in a 1212 BC Russian winter, a decaying prison cell holding accused witches in Lucerne, or a boxing match in England with stakes high enough to make a man out of a machine, each testimony seamlessly transports the audience to that time period and reveals the Devil wearing a different skin, until, by the end, he sheds them all. The History of the Devil exposes Lucifer as a fallen angel so like ourselves. Does the Devil deserve paradise? Do any of us?

People at the helm of the Fantasia International Film Festival can’t say enough about the production, including  Mitch Davis, Festival Co-Director, “This thing is alive with ingenuity and flair… dark, inspired bliss. I loved it, as did everyone I was with. Wow.” For them, director Jeremy Michael Segal and his team have created a macabre mounting that writhes with visual invention and primal acrobatics of performance, all artfully staged with eccentricity and precision.’

Segal is honoured to be part of the Festival and the huge opportunity it offers Title 66 Productions, “The show has been met with such enthusiasm and having the chance to present our work at such a prestigious event is something we’ll always be grateful for and proud of.” For Segal, the play’s theme of humanity is key, “As human beings, we are constantly searching for paradise; grasping at wisps of divinity, trying to understand our existence – terrified to die and disappear. We want so badly to be good that we delude ourselves into believing that evil cannot be natural to our being. History proves otherwise.” He maintains, “Perhaps by a trick of the light cast on that mirror we call Satan, the image of Lucifer may begin to distort and look a lot like us.” Segal hopes the play will spark discussions about what it means to be human. He also hopes audiences leave with an appreciation of the craft of theatre, “I’d like people to be inspired and see theatre as an entertaining art form, as exciting as film or television.” Throughout the creation process, Segal endeavored to respect Clive Barker’s mantra of ‘High art and low, intellect and spectacle, pretension and fun.’