William Blake's DIVINE HUMANITY

 
Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of William Blake's Birth

The international theatre company Theatre of Eternal Values present their latest production, which combines the timeless genius of William Blake's prophetic works with the breathtaking immediacy of physical theatre.

Treat yourself to a carnival of the senses, as our ensemble of international actors, dancers and musicians leads you on a journey of the soul, where you will be carried on the wings of Blake's visionary world, through the industrial mire of London's 'dark satanic mills' beyond 'the doors of perception' towards Great Eternity.

If the doors of perception were cleansed
Everything would appear to Man as it is, Infinite;
For Man has closed himself up, till he sees
All things thro' the narrow chinks of his cavern
                                              (William Blake)

A WORLD FIRST 

TEV has been inspired by Blake's uniqueness as a poet and visionary artist to bring to the stage, for the first time, his epic work Jerusalem and his masterly engravings illustrating the story of the prophet Job.

Tableaux are interwoven with storytelling in an original play that incorporates many of Blake's songs, images and poetry, together with re-enactments of key moments in his life and times.

Synopsis
God challenges Satan - the dark angel - to a contest to determine the fate of the seemingly virtuous Job: an Everyman unaware of his own divinity. An overzealous Satan torments Job to within an inch of his life and traps Job in a world of material darkness and false religion.

God intervenes in the form of Jesus the Imagination, and raises Job from the depths of existential despair to become a visionary prophet 'with the power to make others prophets'. A newly inspired Job attempts to awaken divinity within others and tries in vain to rouse the Giant Albion - the Collective Body of Mankind - from its 'sleep of death'. Yet only by restoring Jerusalem - Albion's lost Emanation and feminine power - to Her spiritual glory, can the Eternal Spirit awaken within Man and the Divine Humanity become a reality.

But where is Jerusalem? And why does She remain hidden?

'Awake! Awake Jerusalem! O lovely Emanation of Albion.
Awake and overspread all Nations as in Ancient Time
                                           ('Jerusalem' William Blake)

INTERNATIONAL TOUR 2007

Cabella, Italy: Friday 27 July (preview performance)
Milan, Italy: 9-11 September
New Players Theatre, London WC2: 20 November-2 December
250th Anniversary celebrations: Wednesday 28 November 2007, London

PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL TOUR 2008 (tbc)

Finland
USA
Canada
Austria

William Blake's 250th Anniversary

Born in London, Monday 28th November, 1757

Blake's message is as relevant today as it was 250 years ago. His vision of 18th century London echoes the feelings many of us have of alienation in a materialistic and industrialised society.

Through his books of Milton, Job and Jerusalem, Blake pushes our understanding of the world to its limits, and reveals the spiritual essence of Man.

"All that lives is Holy." (William Blake)

For Blake, the Divine Humanity is the inspired force of the Poetic Genius that reunites Man with the Divine Vision. And nowhere is this force more strongly expressed than in Jerusalem.