'Everseller' author Arthur Japin is to make a stage adaptation of his novel Vaslav, about the legendary Russian dancer Nijinksi. He is making the adaptation at the request of theatre patron Joop van den Ende, who is a big fan of the book. The theatre production goes into premiered at Amsterdam's DeLaMar Theatre in spring 2014.
The show, about a love triangle between legendary ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, his spiritual father and lover Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, and Nijinsky's ambitious wife Romola, will of course include many dance elements, explains the author, who is otherwise known for books such as and Splendid Lack, The Surrender and But Outside is the Party.
Japin: 'Joop van den Ende was one of the first to overwhelm me with enthusiasm after the book's publication and even became an ambassador for the novel when it was nominated for the NS Publieksprijs. When he asked me to adapt it into a play, in which dance will also have an important place, I immediately envisaged it. Because of my theatre background, I write and think theatrically, so the novel, also because of its subject matter, lends itself perfectly to a theatre adaptation. Reviving the extravagant world of the Ballets Russes and the great genius behind it is a wonderful challenge.'
Arthur Japin, who was seen on stage earlier this season in a production of De Utrechtse Spelen, is not adapting one of his own books for stage for the first time. Earlier, he had success with his adaptation of his novel The Black with the White Heart and the English-language opera Kwasi & Kwame.