The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill will make its English-language world premiere at the TILT festival this weekend (photo © Christophe Raynaud)
TILT Kids Festival
French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
March 2-3, $25-$45, 2:00
Festival runs March 2-31
212-355-6100
tiltkidsfestival.org
www.fiaf.org
The fourth annual family-friendly TILT festival kicks off March 2-3 at FIAF with the English-language world premiere of Festival d’Avignon director Olivier Py’s The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill, a musical fairy tale inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Girl without Hands.” Adapted from the original French production, La Jeune Fille, le Diable et le Moulin, the specially commissioned fifty-minute show explores such complex topics as memory, death, and faith as a father contemplates a deal with an unholy character. Alex Burnette plays the Prince, Nadia Duncan the Girl, Whit K. Lee the Devil, and Ben Rauch the Gardener; the music is by Stéphane Leach, with text and direction by Py. Presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Institute Alliance Française, the festival, cocurated for the first time by Laurent Clavel and Courtney Geraghty, focuses on diversity. “Today, in a world where everyone is discussing politics, it’s important to emphasize that this is where it all starts,” Geraghty said in a statement. “This year’s TILT provides mind-expanding content to children so that they can further develop their imagination and critical thinking about serious issues surrounding their daily lives. The arts can inspire a new generation of cultural thinkers, political leaders, and responsible citizens of the world.” TILT continues through March 31 with such other shows as Marc Boutavant’s The Dumpster Ball at the French Embassy (free with RSVP), Okwui Okpokwasili’s Adaku’s Revolt at Abrons Arts Center ($15-$20), and Guillaume Pigé and Theatre Re’s The Nature of Forgetting at the New Victory Theater ($17-$42).