Nagrin & Twist's Behind the Lid Begins Off-Bway June 12

Silver Whale Gallery will present the world premiere of a new play by the late playwright/performer Lee Nagrin (La MaMa's Valley of Iao, Women's Interart Center's Bird/Bear, Silver Whale's Angels Elegy) and puppeteer/performer Basil Twist (Lincoln Center Festival's La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco, director, The Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE Arts Center).

Behind the Lid will begin performances June 12th and continue, for 30 performances only, through July 13th at Silver Whale Gallery (21 Bleecker Street, at Mulberry, between Bowery and Lafeyette Street), Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 8pm.  Extremely limited seating is available, with only 18 seats per performance.

Press notes state, "Behind the Lid is the story of an older woman in her 70's who is looking back on her life through a dream; within the dream of the performance, the real memories and real dreams of this woman are revealed through the confluence of text, puppetry, music and light. As the audience takes a journey through this woman's life, they will form their own dream, as they experience layer upon layer of her memories, of her life. The woman's life and dreams, as the play reveals, is Lee Nagrin's, the prime creator of the text."

Lee Nagrin, who died on June 7th, 2007, "was a visual artist, performer, singer, choreographer, director and playwright. She is considered one of America's first women performance artists and a pioneer in the field of interdisciplinary performance work. She entered uncharted territory in her assimilation of many artistic mediums, which led one critic to comment, 'Nagrin was a multi-media artist before the term was invented.' Her highly original and unflinching vision has led to the creation of richly layered work that has been described as 'pure image-theatre magic,'" state press notes.

Performances will be Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 8pm. Tickets for Behind the Lid will be $40. To purchase tickets, call Smarttix.com at 212-868-4444 or visit www.leenagrin.com.