SYMBOLS IN CHILDREN OF THE SUN Born to privilege, bound for revolution Liza becomes upset about their disregard for Symbols provide clues to wasting food while people go hungry. Liza’s the Dramatic Meaning of a character is attuned to the chaos and violence play. They can be found in about to occur in the town. objects, visuals, language THE WOODS and design. Both Liza and Pavel make reference to the Protasov home as being situated in a clearing THE SUN in a wood that is otherwise a dark and scary place. This is symbolic of the family being in a The sun is a symbol of purpose, intellect and position of privilege as they are protected from enlightenment. Throughout Children of the the increasingly violent townspeople and the Sun characters make many references to the poison which has made them all sick. Protasov sun. Pavel and his wife Yelena both speak of describes the wood as being airless and rotten, journeying towards the sun symbolizing their rather like outdated Imperial Russia. yearning to achieve a purpose for themselves and society. Pavel’s chemical experiments will enlighten the scientific world and pioneer a A BROKEN WORLD new way of thinking. The title Children of the Sun is a reference to the intellectual elite in Rus- Both the inside and outside worlds of the SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY AND COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT PRESENT sia at the time. play are broken. Set in 1860, the traditional structures of Russian society were beginning to disintegrate. In the world of the play, chemicals EGGS from Pavel’s experiments have leaked into the CHILDREN OF water supply and made the townspeople sick, Eggs are a symbol of new life. Pavel requests creating a world of panic and chaos. Inside Melaniya to bring him 10 fresh eggs everyday the Protosov household, the characters and to use in his experiment. Eggs in the play are a their relationships become destroyed beyond THE SUN poignant choice as class, economic and intel- BY MAXIM GORKY repair. Pavel and Yelena’s marriage is broken; IN A NEW VERSION BY ANDREW UPTON lectual boundaries were being broken down while Liza’s fearful rants similarly portray her SYDNEYTHEATRE.COM.AU 9250 1777 A FAMILY OF LOVEABLE ECCENTRICS IN A as Russia was on the brink of revolution. It is 8 SEP – 25 OCT 2014 COUNTRY ON THE BRINK OF CHANGE mental state as broken. At the end of the play, DRAMA THEATRE, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM 9250 7777 telling that Nanny will only give Pavel stale the outside flats of the set are dismantled by the DIRECTOR LIGHTING DESIGNER WITH PRODUCTION PATRONS PRESENTING SPONSOR KIP WILLIAMS DAMIEN COOPER VALERIE BADER JAY LAGA’AIA CHRIS RYAN eggs, as she is a symbol of the archaic social SET DESIGNER COMPOSER & JAMES BELL JACQUELINE McKENZIE HELEN THOMSON STEPHEN AND characters, symbolising society crumbling and DAVID FLEISCHER SOUND DESIGNER JUSTINE CLARKE HAMISH MICHAEL CONTESSA TREFFONE JULIE FITZGERALD hierarchy which existed in Russia. When the COSTUME DESIGNER MAX LYANDVERT YURE COVICH JULIA OHANNESSIAN TOBY TRUSLOVE breaking. RENÉE MULDER characters begin playfully smashing the eggs, Photo Michele Aboud.