Past Productions: Portraits in Song
Portraits in Song
Edith Piaf & Bertolt Brecht
- Performed by: Elizabeth Mansfield – Accompanied by: Russell Churney
- Devised by: Elizabeth Mansfield – In Collaboration with: Steve Trafford
- Musical Direction & Arrangements by: Russell Churney
- Designed by: Richard Aylwin
- Lighting design by: Nick Beadle
La Vie En Rose & Mac The Knife
Je Ne Regrette Rien & Surabaya Johnny
Elizabeth Mansfield's gripping portraits of Edith Piaf and Bertolt Brecht bring them vividly to life, in a full, dramatic evening, interwoven with their unforgettable songs.
“Mansfield delivers the famous songs superbly”
The Guardian
About as far apart as you can get, Piaf and Brecht, two great figures of European chanson and ballad, connect by contrast. Piaf engages the heart; Brecht engages the mind. Yet his songs, like Piaf's, are full of fantastic theatricality and drama? and through the single voice of the performer two powerfully different world views emerge.
The songs are sung in English, many in new translations by award winning writer Steve Trafford.
Produced in association with Theatre by the Lake.
A CD of this show is available.
Previous Performances
- Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
- Greenwich Theatre
- New Vic Theatre, Stoke
- Merlin Theatre, Frome
- The Drill Hall
- New End Theatre
- Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold
- Leicester Haymarket Theatre
- Brewhouse Arts Centre, Taunton
- Mercury Theatre, Colchester
- Bristol Old Vic
- Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax
- Windsor Arts Centre
- Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke
- Theatre Bar, Evesham
- University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
