Mud/Drowning 2022

Mabou Mines and Weathervane Productions, in association with Philip Glass’ The Days and Nights Festival, present a celebration of legendary playwright and director María Irene Fornés, featuring Philip Glass’ transformation of her five-page play *Drowning* into an opera and Fornés’ acclaimed play, *Mud*. This exciting double-bill marks the show’s triumphant return after a sold-out run at Mabou Mines in 2020, where its New York premiere was called “a notable new work” and designated a Critic’s Pick by The New York Times.

JoAnne Akalaitis directs these two intimate productions (both with new music composed by Glass), which offer New York audiences an opportunity to experience the work of a singular writer at close range. Akalaitis explains, “The program is intended to express that world of Irene’s, which is about the terribly poignant and unfulfilled longing for some kind of emotional accomplishment in life that often gets dashed—that’s what both of these pieces are about. We hope this evening offers a glimpse into the range of Irene’s rich theatrical landscape and the heart of an artist who never soothes and continues to astonish.”

*Mud/Drowning* builds upon a recent outpouring of recognition of Fornés’ work that began with an Akalaitis-produced marathon of her plays at the Public Theater in August 2018 and continued with the acclaimed Theatre for a New Audience production of Fornés’ landmark *Fefu and Her Friends*, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, in the fall of 2019. Earlier versions of the new *Drowning* opera and *Mud* were first performed in 2019 at the Circle Theatre in Carmel, CA, as part of the Days and Nights Festival.