A new theatre work that reimagines
the medieval romance for contemporary audiences.
This Ink Pot Arts project is now in its second year of development. To date, we have been immersing ourselves artistically in all elements of the tale – mythic origins, historical roots, medieval music, art and, of course, text – as part of our process to find meaningful resonance between this iconic story and the challenges we are navigating in our current world.
The project has four interwoven stages: research, script writing, creative development, and performance. We spent much of 2023 on the foundational stages of research and exploration of all the different weavings of the tale: Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval: the Story of the Grail, the Welsh Peredur and the legends of King Arthur and the Holy Grail. These versions all date from the 12th and 13th centuries and we immersed ourselves in them, as well as art and music from the same era. This work formed the building blocks of our project and each next stage of development. Each stage is building these foundations for the culminating performance season, which we anticipate will be in mid-2024.
A multicultural, multimedia project
Our project is distinctive: it has 30-plus acclaimed regional and international artists and community members sharing collectively in its making; it is multicultural, inclusive of our Indigenous culture; and it combines traditional artistic mediums with modern digital ones. The Project recognises that the Parsifal story is a human story, mapping both our spiritual history and our modern soul development, and the production needs to reflect this with a mix of the contemporary and medieval media.
Moreover, this story of one person’s search for spiritual enlightenment describes a threshold event, a window into the spiritual reality of the Grail, and is, therefore, a sacred drama for our times.
We believe it is a creative initiative suited to our times.
Read our first newsletter to find out more about what we have been doing.
Want to get involved?
We are currently seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from actors, dancers, eurythmists and musicians who would like to be considered for the performance ensemble. Whilst we are still in the process of raising funds, our plan is to schedule intensive rehearsal weekends from October 2023 to April 2024, with the final rehearsal period in April-May 2024.
We anticipate the performance season will open in South Australia in May 2024.
To register your interest, email Jo-anne Sarre with your CV, including three referees and a cover letter about why you wish to join the project.
Courses and workshops on the theme
As preparation and support for this journey, we regularly facilitate artistic courses and workshops, which we invite you to attend.
Speech of the Grail is a creative speech and drama workshop at the Mount Barker Waldorf School on Tuesday mornings with Jo-anne Sarre, exploring the story as a stimulus for reflection and creative expression. Contact Jo-anne Sarre for more information.
In Our Own Words: reTelling the Parzival Tale is a series of five creative writing workshops with Fiona Campbell, reimagining the Parzival and Grail legends for today through crafting imaginative word pictures. These online workshops are accessible to everyone and a great way to explore the motifs of Parzival’s quest for the Grail.
You can find out more about the course here.
From Wasteland to Grail Castle: the Soulscapes of Parzival is an open online visual lecture on the inner landscapes, or soulscapes, of the tale, which takes place on different levels of reality. Entry by donation.
Support us!
If you would like to donate to the project to facilitate our next steps, go to
Give Now – Ink Pot Arts – 10 Reasons… Please include a note about supporting The Parsifal Project. Tax-deductible receipts automatically issued.
Join our mailing list!
For updates about the project, join our e-newsletter lists
We look forward to sharing more of our journey with you!
Most societies have come to define themselves by their historical myths and national narratives.
We are, who we say we are…
People grow up believing they live within a story …
what is the story we believe we are living within?
Where is our narrative going?’
Historian David Blight
Feature image: Ghost Rider, courtesy of h kippdelaney