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he fills an entire room with objects made from gold in two months, Atahualpa will be set free and will not harm
Pizarro. As the room fills up, Pizarro and Atahualpa become increasingly close. Pizarro, who suffers constant pain from an old wound, has a crisis of faith. He reveals to Martin that he used to dream of the Sun God as a child. When the room is finally filled, Pizarro asks Atahualpa to swear to leave his men unharmed, but the king refuses. The Spaniards urge Pizarro to have Atahualpa executed, and the beginnings of a mutiny against Pizarro stir. Atahualpa tells Pizarro to allow his men to kill him, because, as the son of the Sun, he will revive the morning after anybody kills him. Pizarro agrees to do this, and is inducted into the Incan religion by Atahualpa personally. Atahualpa is decreed to burn at the stake, and Pizarro has this changed to strangling (since Atahualpa's body is required intact for the rebirth to work) if Atahualpa agrees to be baptised. He does so, and is strangled. Pizarro waits until dawn with the body, but it does not re-awake, leading him to hold the body and weep while Old Martin narrates the end of the story.
387:, a Catholic priest determined to spread the shining light of Christianity. It is narrated or commented upon by Old Martin, a jaded man in his mid-fifties. Young Martin β another character in the play β is his younger counterpart, integrated with the time-frame in which the expedition commences. At the beginning of the voyage he is obsessed with chivalry, glory and honour, but becomes increasingly disillusioned throughout, as Pizarro's crisis of faith also unravels.
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The
Spanish invade Peru, hungry for gold. After many weeks, they climb a mountain to reach the abode of Atahualpa, the king of Incas and also the son of the Sun god. The Spaniards massacre 3,000 Incas and take Atahualpa captive. Instead of killing him, Pizarro makes a deal with Atahualpa whereby, if
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The staging is relatively simple: an upper and lower part to the stage making up the ground plan. The main attribute is the image of the sun, which presents a creative challenge for all who undertake this mammoth production. There have been numerous suns over the years, but when the play was first
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Music is a key element to this play, more so than any other by Peter
Shaffer. He wanted strange and disturbing sounds produced on primitive instruments such as saws, reed pipes, drums (tablas and bongos) and cymbals to create the aural world of 16th Century Peru. Shaffer was so impressed with Marc
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The expedition is predominantly in the name of gold, religion and belief; all Incas being heathens who must be brought before God. The play critically studies these two themes throughout the discovery of
Atahualpa β the Inca Sun God β and massacre of the Incas themselves.
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staged it was a large metal contraption, with huge 'petals' that opened up and outwards. Visuals are of the essence with this play, especially the lavish Inca costumes.
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marked the first time exposed lighting was used as an integral part of the design of a
Broadway production. The play ran for 261 performances.
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The play begins in Spain, where
Pizarro recruits 167 men for an expedition to Peru. He is accompanied by his second-in-command
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Although the play is performed on an open platform stage with little scenery, the film version opened it up considerably.
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as de Soto, Robert
Aberdeen as the First Inca Indian Chieftain, and George Rose as Old Martin. The lighting design by
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The production was a critical and commercial success. In addition to its run at the Old Vic, it played at the
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The play was revived by the
National at the Olivier Theatre in April 2006 in a production directed by
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The play was performed at the Parco
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that dramatizes the relation of two worlds entering in a conflict by portraying two
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693:"National Theatre Archive: The Lord Chamberlain and The Royal Hunt of the Sun"
467:"Martin Aronstein, 65; Noted Theatrical Lighting Designer β Los Angeles Times"
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An opera based on the play, with music and libretto by
British composer
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The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia: Opera, Music, Dance
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as Pizarro, Christopher Plummer switching roles to play Atahualpa,
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was the same as the original London production. In the cast were
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545:. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
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with the original music by Marc Wilkinson and choreography by
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Leask, Margaret (2012). "'Tasker, John Howard (1933β1988)'".
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Atkinson, Ann; Knight, Linsay; McPhee, Margaret (1996).
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AusStage β The Australian Live Performance Database
265:The play was filmed on location by the now defunct
414:", that he now considers it integral to the play.
347:. The production was recorded and broadcast on
542:Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 18
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495:. Al Hirschfeld Foundation. 24 October 1965
235:The play was staged as part of the fourth
207:on 26 October 1965. The production by the
774:Cultural depictions of Francisco Pizarro
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566:"Play of pageantry in a bulging city"
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572:. Sydney, NSW, Australia. p. 15
16:1964 theatre piece by Peter Shaffer
116:as Francisco Pizarro and included
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597:. Allen & Unwin. p. 28.
85:in July 1964. It was directed by
441:cartoon published originally in
261:The Royal Hunt of the Sun (film)
564:Covell, Roger (17 March 1966).
437:The play was the subject of an
351:television Japan, June 27 2020
203:performance took place at the
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754:Plays set in the 16th century
656:. Presser.com. Archived from
637:"WOWOW TIME TABLE: June 2020"
625:Official website, in Japanese
25:Poster of original production
749:Plays based on actual events
239:in 1966. It was directed by
682:. Harmony Books, 1982: p. x
654:"Welcome to Presser Online"
515:"The Royal Hunt of the Sun"
493:"The Royal Hunt of the Sun"
73:was first presented at the
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281:, in his first role after
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769:Plays adapted into operas
711:The Royal Hunt of the Sun
695:. Royal National Theatre.
570:The Sydney Morning Herald
406:The Royal Hunt of the Sun
331:, with original score by
277:as Hernando De Soto, and
267:National General Pictures
237:Adelaide Festival of Arts
71:The Royal Hunt of the Sun
31:The Royal Hunt of the Sun
764:Plays adapted into films
307:. Leading the cast were
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93:with music composed by
744:Plays by Peter Shaffer
404:Wilkinson's score for
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269:studio in 1969, with
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385:Vincente de Valverde
104:The cast was led by
680:The Collected Plays
363:, was premièred by
213:Christopher Plummer
158:Christopher Timothy
150:Edward Petherbridge
75:Chichester Festival
61:Performance history
443:The New York Times
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759:Plays set in Peru
471:Los Angeles Times
305:Anthony Van Laast
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219:as Atahualpa,
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291:2006 revival
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255:Film version
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215:as Pizarro,
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138:Derek Jacobi
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499:2 September
297:Trevor Nunn
271:Robert Shaw
241:John Tasker
221:John Vernon
142:Robert Lang
87:John Dexter
739:1964 plays
733:Categories
453:References
323:2020 Tokyo
199:The first
189:Nottingham
110:Atahuallpa
48:Atahuallpa
44:characters
34:is a 1964
411:Peer Gynt
371:in 1977.
345:Atahualpa
317:Atahualpa
231:Australia
177:Stratford
722:Guardian
664:13 April
477:13 April
375:Synopsis
201:Broadway
195:Broadway
169:Aberdeen
66:Premiere
367:at the
173:Glasgow
83:Old Vic
77:by the
724:review
610:13 May
601:
576:13 May
549:13 May
524:13 May
383:, and
185:Oxford
640:(PDF)
425:Notes
355:Opera
349:WOWOW
181:Leeds
716:IMDb
666:2014
612:2019
599:ISBN
578:2019
551:2019
526:2019
501:2021
479:2014
187:and
156:and
112:and
53:and
51:Inca
36:play
714:at
365:ENO
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315:as
108:as
38:by
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