Lemonhead's project for this year is a play inspired by the life of Dutch neo-impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh. Briefly, the script chronicles the last few weeks of the artist's life which he spent in the French city of Auvers . At that time Van Gogh was under the care of Dr. Gachet, a well-known psychiatrist who was more interested in assembling a collection of impressionist paintings rather than in his patient's mental health.

Given this scenario, Lemonhead's Van Gogh presents us with an introspective painter who reminisces past events and people that have effected his life. The story, at times an extrapolation from actual historical events, is peppered with numerous flashbacks that provide insight into the apparent madness of a man obsessed with his art.

Thousands and thousands of books have been written about Van Gogh; about his contribution to the history of art, his use of expressionism, his symbolism and technique. But ultimately Van Gogh desired a simple life - he wanted to love and be loved in return, and he wanted to earn a living as a good painter. For various reasons (amongst which his difficult character) he never managed to attain any of these. Lemonhead's script thus becomes the swan song of a man who gave himself one last chance before committing an act (suicide) he deemed as the only possible solution to a seemingly fruitless life.

As one might rightly imagine, given the fact that Van Gogh is a period piece and that it encompasses a cast of more than twenty actors and actresses. Van Gogh turned out to be a very ambitious project and as such it involved a lot of preparatory work. It came as a logical step to set up a production team in charge of the different aspects of the project. During past plays, Bryan and Louise Muscat shouldered the bulk of the production work, but this time round different roles were assigned to different people. In this manner a greater concentration of effort can be devoted to the diverse aspects of production.

Van Gogh's script, penned by Bryan Muscat, is an original adaptation of the artist's final weeks prior to his suicide. It is a blend of past and present events with several flashbacks wherein Van Gogh relives key moments of his life and encounters many characters that influenced him in one way or another. Given its fragmented structure, the script is a challenge for any director to bring to the stage, however, it seems that Muscat managed this successfully. The general feedback was immense and some still mention Van Gogh as the best production by lemonhead.

CAST & CREW

VINCENT VAN GOGH Lawrence Buontempo
PAUL GAUGIN Chrysander Agius
THEO VAN GOGH Emmanuel Tanti

AUVERS - 1890

DR. GACHET Bryan Muscat
AURELI GACHET Kimberly Cioffi
JOHANA VAN GOGH Aveline Farrugia
ARLETTE Erika Farrugia

ARLES - 1888

RACHEL DUMINY Koren Scicluna
COLETTE Orietta Masini
LOUIS Heathcliff Schembri

LONDRA 1873 / NEUNEN 1884

EUGENIE LOYER Claudinne Attard
VICTOR OBACH David Bonello
THEODORUS VAN GOGH Alan Fenech
MARGOT BEGEMANN Tricia Fabri (first 2 Nights)
MARGOT BEGEMANN Pauline Cordine (last 2 nights)

  BORINAGE - 1878

PHILIP DECRUQ Kenneth Scicluna
MADAME DECRUQ Sarah Spiteri
JACQUES VERNEY Neville Refalo
MADAME DENIS Michelle Bonnici
PEREGROYMonica Micallef
VICKYAlexia Vassallo

PARIGI - 1886

HENRY TOLOUSSE-LAUTREC Ryan Micallef
GEORGES SEURAT Owen Bonnici
MADAME SEURAT Orietta Masini
MARIETricia Fabri

  HAGUE 1882 / ETTEN 1881

SIEN (Clasina Maria Hoornik) Susan Callus
KEE VOSS Nicolette Conti
JOHANNES STRICKER Keith Borg
CLAUDEHeathcliffe Schembri

LONDON 2003

MR. SMITH Mario Scicluna

Guitarist MARK GALEA
Muzika MARK GALEA
Segretarja tal-kumitat EMMA GALEA
Marketing SILVANNA CALLUS
Segretarja Amministrattiva ALDITH GAUCI
PRO EMANUEL TANTI
Disin Brochure / Web-Site SILVIO GALEA
Segretarja tal-Produzzjoni VANESSA SCERRI
Dawl JASON MASINI
Make Up ALISON GRECH
Disinji tal-kostumi ELAINE ELLUL
Props KOREN SCICLUNA
Assistant tad-Direzzjoni CHRYSANDER AGIUS
Stage Manager MARIO SCICLUNA
Kitba u Direzzjoni BRYAN MUSCAT
Produzzjoni LOUISE MUSCAT