'A feast and a lions' den, conveyed in multiple ways.

AuthorTommasini, Anthony
PositionLiving

Byline: Anthony Tommasini

NEW YORK -- When attending any kind of music drama written in a language other than English, American audiences have come to expect that the text will be performed in an English translation or some system of projected supertitles will be employed.

But for its acclaimed production of "The Play of Daniel,'' the medieval music drama that dates from 12th-century France, Trinity Church has a charming solution to the problem that allows both for easy understanding of the story and fidelity to the original sources.

This production, directed by Drew Minter, with music direction by Mary Anne Ballard, begins with a storyteller, a woman costumed appropriately to biblical times, who welcomes the audience in conversational English. She then tells the whole story of the play based on "Belshazzar's Feast'' and "Daniel in the Lion's Den,'' two incidents from the biblical account of the Hebrew prophet Daniel. As she speaks, she introduces the costumed singers from the cast who essentially mime the entire play in less than 10 minutes.

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