Luca Silvestrini's Protein, The Little Prince, The Place

Luca Silvestrini is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary British dance theatre; together with his company Protein, he’s created some highly original and inquisitive works that blend dance, music and humour.

Silvestrini is always keen to involve the audience in his creations: and his latest work, The Little Prince, is the result of extensive workshopping relying primarily on the contributions of young viewers.

The Little Prince, which is The Place’s offering for Christmas 2019, is based on the classic tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which has delighted generations of children (and indeed adults!) since its publication in 1943.

The book has been translated into 300 languages and dialects, and undergone countless adaptations in a variety of media; few, however, will be as charming as Luca Silvestrini’s The Little Prince.

Protein’s four performers skilfully enact the story of The Little Prince, as he journeys through a weird universe, meeting new characters and learning about the value of friendship and love.

Stranded in the desert where he crashed his plane, a pilot meets a boy who tells him the story of how he left his own asteroid and travelled through the universe. On this journey the boy comes face to face with the world of grown-ups, including a king that reigns over nothing, a businessman obsessively counting stars and a wise and friendly fox.

Protein’s The Little Prince is set to an especially commissioned score by Frank Moon, with designs by Yann Seabra and lighting by Jackie Shemesh.

The Little Prince is a universal work, as engaging for children as it is for adults. Saint-Exupéry himself said of his intention in writing this book: ‘Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.’

Silvestrini’s adaptation, too, aims to captivate grown ups as well as children. He says about his work: ‘as children make their discoveries (…) their grown ups are reminded that they were once children too.’