by Theatre of Eternal Values

by Theatre of Eternal Values

A dramatisation of the life and work of William Blake

The New Players Theatre
London 20th November - 2nd December 2007




LIFE AND TIMES

William Blake (1757-1827)

Blake was born at 28a Broad St, Soho on 28th November 1757 and he continued to live and work in London for most of his life. He was an engraver, printer (he invented a new technique of printing known as ‘relief etching’), painter, poet, prophet and visionary.

From his early childhood he saw visions of angels and conferred with the spirits of great personalities from ancient times.

He lived through an era of great political and social upheaval. Moved by the social injustices of industrial England, Blake captured the mood of his times through his paintings and poetry.

He prophesised the coming of the Golden Age through the awakening of Divinity within human beings (Divine Humanity) and dedicated his life to the liberation of mankind from the ‘mind-forged manacles’ of its conditioning, materialism and rational ego.

A WORLD FIRST

A WORLD FIRST

from the introduction to Blake"s Jerusalem

'Poetry Fetter'd Fetters the Human Race
Nations are Destroy'd or Flourish in proportion as
Their Poetry, Painting and Music are Destroy'd or Flourish:
The primeval state of Man was Wisdom, Art and Science.'

Creative Challenge

The huge creative challenge is this: how can one possibly depict on stage the unfolding of a world of indescribable beauty within this everyday world of ours? How could one possibly represent his great works and emulate the way he invited humanity’s attention into the inner world of evolution and beauty?