Julie
Taymor wasn’t the obvious choice to put Disney’s The Lion King on stage. It’s
not that the maverick American theatre maker was a purveyor of small-cast
studio-bound off-Broadway experiments who might be out of her depth with
something so epic. She was used to creating big shows utilising a multitude of
global theatre styles and techniques. If anything, Taymor’s pedigree in directing
productions of Shakespeare and classic operas that incorporated masks and
puppetry were maybe considered a little bit too out there to take on a
high-profile commercial venture based on the success of the Oscar-winning 1994 animated
film of the same name.
Audiences
might be more familiar with the show’s score, composed by Elton John with
lyrics by Tim Rice to accompany Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi’s book, with an
underscore by Hans Zimmer. The show’s story of Simba the lion and his exile
from his pride following the murder of his father drew inspiration from Hamlet
and Greek tragedy. In this respect, Taymor’s appointment as costume designer
and co-puppet and mask designer as well as director wasn’t so far off the mark
after all.
Twenty-two
years, productions in nineteen countries, audiences running into millions and
numerous awards later, The Lion King is about to open at Edinburgh Playhouse
for an almost four-month long run that sees it return to the city for the first
time in a decade. For Taymor, who stopped off in London last month to revisit
the show, watching her original vision come of age after so long remains a
labour of love.
“It’s
like visiting your baby,” she says. “The same team has been together for twenty
years, and even in London people have been working on it together for eleven
years, so there’s a real family feeling there between all the cast and
collaborators. Even though from the outside it might seem like it’s just a big
hit west end show, it’s actually a very special show. Any age can connect with
it, so it isn’t just a family show. It really talks about very deep issues that
are to do with family and bringing up children.”
Taymor
hadn’t seen Disney’s original animated feature film of The Lion King when she
was first approached to sign up for the stage show. When she saw a tape of it
“I was gob-smacked. It was such beautiful animation, and the idea of putting a
stampede onstage was irresistible. I think the fact that what I’d done before
was quite left-field had its advantages in terms of transforming what I call a
cartoon into a live event where performers bring animals to life in a physical
way using masks and puppetry.
“No-one
knew it was going to become as big as it did, and I think The Lion King helped
open things up for shows like War Horse???, and for people who understand that
puppetry isn’t just for children, and who appreciate the beauty of seeing
actors bring animals to life. That’s what touches people on an emotional level,
and it all goes back to the earliest forms of making theatre, when people made
rabbits with their hands and cast shadows onto a cave wall.”
Taymor’s
own theatrical roots date back to her growing up in Newton, Massachusetts,
where she joined children’s theatre groups. As a teenager she studied in Sri
Lanka and India, and aged sixteen she worked with mime and masks at the L’ecole
Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. In the early 1970s Taymor
interned with Joseph Chaikin’s Open Theatre, and worked with Herbert Blau,
another key figure in American avant-garde theatre.
Taymor
later moved to Indonesia, where she founded Teatr Loh, an international company
of actors, musicians, dancers and puppeteers from Japan, Bali, Sudan, America
and Europe. In the 1980s she brought her work to the New York Shakespeare
Festival, fusing her distinct use of masks and puppetry with classical
texts. She was Tony-nominated for her
production of Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass, and when she was approached by
Disney was directing a production of Wagner’s opera, The Flying Dutchman.
In film,
Taymor directed Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange and Alan Cummings in an
adaptation of Titus Andronicus, and was Oscar nominated for Frida, which
starred Salma Hayek as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. She later directed
big-screen Beatles jukebox musical, Across the Universe, and cast Helen Mirren
as a female Prospero in her film of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Taymor’s UK
visit comes inbetween working on The Glorias: A Life on the Road, a biopic of
feminist icon Gloria Steinem.
“I never
wanted to be locked in or boxed in as the puppet lady,” Taymor says of her rich
and diverse CV. “I do lots of movies now, but I’m still inspired by world
theatre.”
In its
multi-cultural melding of styles and techniques performed by an international
cast, The Lion King has shades of what Peter Brook did with his nine-hour
epic???, The Mahabharata??? Taymor also cites French avant-garde icon, Ariane
Mnouchkine, as an influence. Taymor’s own theatre is rooted in a mythology
exemplified??? By The Lion King.
“It’s
incredibly simple,’ she says. “It’s a prodigal son story, and that could be
happening in Harlem, Brixton or among the British upper classes. The story is
so relatable to everyone. It deals with death like Bambi did, and Disney never
showed any fear in that, but at its heart, The Lion King is also an
entertaining piece of theatre.”
Taymor tells
a well-known story about a family who went to see The Lion King with their
daughter, who were still in mourning after their other daughter had died.
“That
child heard the music and the lyrics and she said to her parents, ‘Sarah is
with us, isn’t she,’ says Taymor. “That’s why The Lion King is successful. It’s
more than just a story. It’s an ancient ritual. If as theatre-makers we can
make something like that happen, then we’ve done our job.”
The Lion
King, The Playhouse, Edinburgh, December 5-March 29, 2020.
The Herald, November 30th 2019
ends
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