The Parable of the Blind
Adapted from the Gert Hofman novel by Mehrdad Seyf
June 1996
Brixton Shaw Theatre
Six blind men look for the painter’s house where they will be painted walking, stumbling and falling into a ditch, in slow motion. The Parable of the Blind is a comic meditation on language, art, and human pain.
Credits
Cast
Eugene Ambrose
Guy Callan
Christopher Chaplin
Ralph Collie
Joe Collins
Judy Curry
Andrew Pullan
Claire Summerfield
Writer/Director Mehrdad Seyf
Designer Leslie Travers
Composer Dominique Legendre
Lighting Design Paul Emery
Press
“Writer/Director Mehrdad Seyf and the creative team of 30 Bird Productions have workshopped a unique theatrical experience from a tale of six blind beggars summoned to parade before a reclusive artist who is obsessed with an urge to paint the compliant wretches – but only at the precise moment when they fall down screaming…A performance style that places emphasis on story telling, physical imagery and choreographed staging, Seyf pulls off the feat of staying true to Hofman’s tragic-comic narrative, challenging our perceptions about art and life while still discovering some highly theatrical images of his own…This is a very promising debut from a new company with a flair for visual ideas you rarely see.”
Roger Foss, What’s On, 1996