The Whale
About
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville tells the tale of Captain Ahab and his maniacal pursuit of the ever-elusive white whale. In Concrete Temple’s The Whale, the often over-looked Sub-Sub-Librarian is featured, and it’s he who plays not only Ishmael and Captain Ahab but Moby Dick himself. Using only his body, voice, and an extraordinary collection of hand-crafted and rigged props to create life on a whale ship, Adinolfi, a dancer and actor by training, puts into service a variety of storytelling traditions. The effect of one man embodying this enormous literary epic in 60 minutes, using Melville’s text, is simultaneously playful and profound. The visual and physical nature of the work makes The Whale a unique theatrical experience.
Adinolfi transforms a tiny stage into both the sea-locked world of the Pequod’s decks and the vast, unfathomable sea itself. –Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker
This is an intense, poetic reaction to Melville’s novel, created using a heightened theatricality and a set that would look at home in a gallery. –Diane Dubois, Scotsman, UK
When Moby Dick itself rises up from nowhere with fearsome power, it is easy to forget this is all in the mind, and you can almost taste the salt as you drown in the deep waters of Adinolfi’s imagination. –Jeremy Hodges, The Daily Mail, UK
A smart, very thoughtful adaptation, this Melville-inspired performance gives lovers of Moby-Dick much to talk about. –Prof. John Bryant, Editor, Melville Society
…It is those moments when Moby Dick himself is realized on the stage that The Whale really captivates. Most thrillingly, Adinolfi himself portrays Moby Dick, arranging his powerful body into an appropriate compacted shape and then, with graceful dance movements, swimming and thrusting to show us the grandeur and indomitability of Ahab’s formidable nemesis. –Martin Denton, nytheatre.com
In the same way Herman Melville experimented with language in Moby-Dick, Carlo Adinolfi, in his one-man stage adaptation of the novel, manipulates his voice and body. With similar playfulness, The Whale, presented by Concrete Temple Theatre, addresses the ways and means of storytelling, producing an elaborate dance that pays homage to the awesome, but graceful power of the sea and to Melville’s original text… …The spirit of Melville is very much alive in this staging, which likewise pays respect to its subject with a vibrant telling. –Maura O’Brien, Offoffonline
Adapted & Directed by: Renee Philippi
Designed & Performed by: Carlo Adinolfi
Original Music by: David Pinkard
Stage Managed by: Casey McLain
Lighting Consultant: Tyler Micoleau
Costume Design by: Moira Shaughnessy
History
March 2011
Pontine Theatre, Portsmouth, NH
January 2009
Barrow Street Theatre, NYC, Off-Broadway
August 2008
Tour of the Seven Major Cities of India and Sri Lanka
September 2007
West Shore Performing Arts Series, Scottville, Michigan
January 2007
University of Michigan, Flint, Michigan
July 2006
The Yard, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
August 2005
Nantucket Historical Association, Whaling Museum, Nantucket, MA
October 2004
Sarah Lawrence College, NY
January 2004
Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bonaventure, NY
November 2003
Bentley College, Waltham, MA
July/August 2003
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Scotland
June 2003
78th Street Theatre Lab, New York, NY
Press
Adinolfi transforms a tiny stage into both the sea-locked world of the Pequod’s decks and the vast, unfathomable sea itself.
–Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker
This is an intense, poetic reaction to Melville’s novel, created using a heightened theatricality and a set that would look at home in a gallery.
–Diane Dubois, Scotsman, UK
When Moby Dick itself rises up from nowhere with fearsome power, it is easy to forget this is all in the mind, and you can almost taste the salt as you drown in the deep waters of Adinolfi’s imagination.
–Jeremy Hodges, The Daily Mail, UK
A smart, very thoughtful adaptation, this Melville-inspired performance gives lovers of Moby-Dick much to talk about.
–Prof. John Bryant, Editor, Melville Society
…It is those moments when Moby Dick himself is realized on the stage that The Whale really captivates. Most thrillingly, Adinolfi himself portrays Moby Dick, arranging his powerful body into an appropriate compacted shape and then, with graceful dance movements, swimming and thrusting to show us the grandeur and indomitability of Ahab’s formidable nemesis.
–Martin Denton, nytheatre.com
In the same way Herman Melville experimented with language in Moby-Dick, Carlo Adinolfi, in his one-man stage adaptation of the novel, manipulates his voice and body. With similar playfulness, The Whale, presented by Concrete Temple Theatre, addresses the ways and means of storytelling, producing an elaborate dance that pays homage to the awesome, but graceful power of the sea and to Melville’s original text… …The spirit of Melville is very much alive in this staging, which likewise pays respect to its subject with a vibrant telling.
–Maura O’Brien, Offoffonline
Photos
Video
Workshops
1) “Whale” Workshop – Miniature Whale Boats: has participants creating and learning to operate their own fully mechanized miniature whale boat, as seen in “The Whale.”
2) “Whale” Workshop – Adaptation: will lead participants in how to adapt other work, to create solo and ensemble theatre.
3) “Whale” Workshop – Solo Work: will lead participants in how to begin creating their own solo work.
4) Talkback with Audience or Special Focus Group.
5) Lecture/Demonstration: with excerpts from the show as examples. The Lecture/Demo can focus on: “Moby Dick,” Adaptation, Devised Work, Physical Theatre, Our Creative Process, etc.