Current Projects
A bilingual Swedish/ English music theater piece due to premier in 2012, dream seminar / drömseminarium is based on the poetry of Tomas Tranströmer and generated by a multi-national group of twenty artists.
A live radio opera set to premiere 2014, Under Milk Wood is produced in partership with Taliesin Arts Centre and Le Chien
qui chante using text of the radio play by Dylan Thomas and music by John Metcalff. This production is a live opera
experience which taps into the personal imaginitive richness of sitting beside a radio and entering a universe through the
ear alone.
A Model of Improvisation
The Companion Star Method
Companion Star is dedicated to the growth of music theater by challenging theater's traditional
relationships, cultivating diverse artists, and introducing new works to the public in dynamic and interactive environments.
Companion Star's productions are developed in a workshop-oriented system intended to dissolve
traditional boundaries between performers, musicians, producers, directors and other participants. This organic approach is designed
to produce fully integrated works in which every facet of the production, from initiation to completion, is shaped by ideas that
arise collectively from all participants.
Reaching beyond traditional theater personnel of actors, dancers and musicians, Companion Star's
productions involve physical and visual artists whose work is incorporated into both the presentation of the production and the story
itself. In keeping with Companion Star's collaborative approach to the performing arts, these artists are fully involved in every
phase of the production from conceptualization to presentation.
Companion Star's performances are staged in intimate venues arranged to bring the audience into
the performance space to create an environment that performers and the audience can inhabit together.
A Worthy Accolade
T. Tranströmer, Nobel Award
Companion Star extends our enthusiastic and hearfelt applause to Tomas Tranströmer, winner
of the 2011 Nobel prize for literature and the inspiration for Companion Star's flagship project, dream seminar /
drömseminarium.
In awarding Mr. Tranströmer the Nobel prize, the Swedish Academy said, "through his condensed,
translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality."
Referring to dream seminar / drömseminarium as a "new translation of his poetry," Mr.
Tranströmer has played an invaluable part in the development process, attending development workshops, offering advice
and observations, and inspiring the musicians, artists and all involved in every step of production, from improvised melodies
through polished compositions and choreographies.
We at Companion Star look forward to honoring this great artist and validating his tremendous
support for us with the 2012 premiere of dream seminar / drömseminarium.
In English and Swedish,
our bilingual work, based on the words of
contemporary Swedish poet
Tomas Tranströmer,
the music of composer
Ellen Lindquist,
with libretto by
Pat Diamond & Kathleen Flynn,
includes an international cast of
two vocalists & twelve instrumentalists.
As with all of Companion Star's work,
dream seminar/drömseminarium
is developed
collaboratively through improvisation.
