The Brick Theater, Inc. presents a Gemini CollisionWorks production of George Bataille's Bathrobe
by Richard Foreman, designed and directed by Ian W. Hill
It is the last day in the life of
Frank Norris, writer (not that OTHER writer
Frank Norris, this is o
Ne You've never heard of, somewhat of a cross between
Henry Miller and
Norman Mailer). He appears to be in a prison cell, in some unnamed country, for some unnamed political crime - but as his mind is slipping in and out of reality as he faces his impending death, you'll forgive him if he is romaticizing his situation somewhat . . . especially as six figures from inside his head have appeared to variously tempt and torment him, forcing him to look back at his long, rich life to see how many things he has still left undone, and how many regrets he still has. This collection of alien figures, some frightening, some incredibly appealing (plus his real world doctor, who is trying to help him sort it all out), pull him in different directions as he tries to decide how to exit his life, either on his feet and fighting or sliding away into an ignorant oblivion.
In this production of
Richard Foreman's 1983 play George Bataille's Bathrobe - the first fully-stag
Ed English language production, as it premiered in French in Paris, and last received a staged reading in 1998 - the abstract text, written by Foreman only as dialogue, with no characters or scene descriptions, is here transformed by designer/director Ian
W. Hill into a fantasia on mortality and the choices we make in how to deal with it, either through trying to ignore the painful reality through a reliance on sensual pleasure and physical possessions, or standing up and facing the harsh truths about the things we have done or left undone that we can never make right. A life passing before a man's eyes is shown, with all its attendant humor, violence, tenderness, and tragedy, in a collection of scenes ranging in style from music hall to dance to melodrama to naturalism. George Bataille's Bathrobe is a collection of moments of one man's past life that might teach others how to live their future ones.
Director/designer Hill has created 59 stage productions since 1997 with his company Gemini CollisionWorks, including works by
Vaclav Havel,
Richard Foreman,
T.S. Eliot, Clive Barker,
Mac Wellman,
Ronald Tavel,
Jeff Goode, Mark Spitz, and Edward D. Wood, Jr., as well as several original plays. As a designer (light, sound, projections, sets) and technical/artistic consultant he has worked with many other stage artists and theatres for the past 20 years, and he is currently the technical director of The Brick. He will also be presenting three other plays in rep with George Bataille's Bathrobe in August at The Brick: Blood on the Cat's Neck by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, A Little Piece of the Sun by Daniel McKleinfeld, and Sacrificial Offerings by
David Finkelstein and Ian
W. Hill.
The cast of this production is
Sarah Malinda Engelke*, Liza Wade Green, Justin R.G. Holcomb*, Bob Laine,
Kathryn Lawson, Patrice Miller,
Timothy McCown Reynolds*,
Bill Weeden*
at
The Brick
575 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11211
½ a block from the Lorimer stop of the L Train / Metropolitan-Grand stop of the G Train
www.bricktheater.comAugust 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 28 and 29 at 8.00 pm; August 22 and 23 at 4.00 pm
approximately 70 minutes long
All tickets: $15.00
Tickets available at the door or through theatermania.com (212-352-3101 or toll-free: 1-866-811-4111)
* Appears Courtesy of Actors Equity Association
