Arts

Las Meninas comes to Essex

A recreation of one of Spain's most famous works of art is in the University Gallery this month.

Eve Sussman's 89 Seconds at Alcázar is a short film which brings to life Diego Velázquez's 1656 painting Las Meninas.
Las Meninas depicts the family of the Hapsburg King Philip IV with the Infanta Margarita as its central character. It includes a self-portrait of the artist and derives its name from the two Maids of Honour - known in Portuguese as Las Meninas - who attend to the Infanta.

Eve Sussman's 89 Seconds at Alcázar

Sussman's film recreates the famed painting, including the action leading up to and immediately following the eternal moment in the salon at Alcázar, the Palace of the Hapsburgs. A 360° take reveals the entire scene, with King Philip and his wife Mariana of Austria as main characters, no longer mere reflections as they are in the original, presiding over the scene. The three dimensional quality of the film reveals the focus of Velázquez and the Infanta's gaze - a place outside the painting which has fascinated viewers for three centuries.

The exhibition, entitled The Other Meninas, also includes a slide show of other works of art inspired by the Spanish painting including works by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.

Children from Jaywick's Frobisher Primary School have created their own Infanta, with the help of local artist Alison Stockmarr, which is on display in the Gallery window during the exhibition.

The Other Meninas will be at the University Gallery until 5 February. Admission is free and opening times are as follows: Monday to Friday 11am to 5pm, Saturday 12.30pm to 4pm.

Puss in German boots

The German Drama Group returns once more to the Lakeside Theatre next month with another exciting production. The play, Der gestiefelte Kater, tells the tale of Puss in Boots and features final year German students under the direction of Emma Hopper.

For the past four years, the Group has successfully produced several plays in the German language. This year's production is based on Ludwig Tieck's romantic fairytale-play, written in 1797, in which a penniless farmer's boy acquires riches, power, and a beautiful princess, all with the help of his loyal pet, a crafty cat.

The play itself is partially told through the medium of shadow theatre and with an eclectic mix of English, German and comical performances it promises to be an event not to be missed!

Der gestiefelte Kater is at the Lakeside Theatre from 2-4 February Performances start at 7.30pm. Tickets priced £6 (concessions £4) and £3 on Wednesday are available from the arts Office, telephone 01206 873261, e-mail arts@essex.ac.uk.

Essex writer's play off to NYC

A play written by the Centre for Theatre Studies' Jonathan Lichtenstein is to make its international debut in New York later this year.

Colchester's Mercury Theatre announced that their production of The Pull of Negative Gravity has been chosen to be part of the Brits off Broadway Festival at the 59E59 Theater in Manhattan.

With support from the Arts Council, the same three cast members that performed the play at the Mercury will travel to America in May.

The invitation to be part of the Festival comes after the play was well-received at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and in the Mercury Theatre Studio.