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of lelepl1on~. 718.036 Llll 1 rv1elrS~d CtJSICk Music Fdx !lt..8~>7 ?O?l !\my I i ugi1CS larnnra McCaw Kila Packett 71863G.4129 News Release BAM's 2000 Next Wave Festival Presents the U.S. Premiere of Stadsteater (Stockholm)'s Production of A Dream Play, Directed by Robert Wilson
Production marks Wilson's first exploration of an August Strindberg work
Written by August Strindberg Stockholm's Stadsteater Direction, design, and lighting by Robert Wilson
Co-direction by Ann-Christin Rommen Music by Michael Galasso Costumes and masks by Jacques Reynaud Lighting by Andreas Fuchs and Robert Wilson Dramaturgy by Holm Keller and Monica Ohlsson Sound by Ronald Hallgren
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Nov 28- Dec 2 at 7:30pm and Dec 3 at 3pm Tickets: $20, 35, 55 Performed in Swedish with English surtitles
BAMcafe Live presents A Dream Play n1usic composer Michael Galasso (violin) Friday, November 24 at 9pm
BROOKLYN, November 3, 2000- Acclaimed director, designer, and installation 0 artist Robert Wilson returns to BAM's Next Wave Festival with his highly-praised interpretation of August Strindberg's A Dream Play-a U.S. premiere production that 0 has inspired glowing reviews in Europe and Australia. Collaborating with Stockholm's Stadsteater, Wilson creates a stunning version that re-orders time, space, and narrative. 0 The production marks the artist's first staging of a Strindberg work, nearly a century N • more ... ave
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after it was written. Six performances take place at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Avenue), November 28-December 2 at 7:30pm and December 3 at 3pm.
BAM's Next Wave Festival, now in its 18'11 year, presents thirteen dance, music, and theater events through December 10, sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc. For A Dream Play tickets, priced at $20, $35, and $55, or tickets to other Next Wave events, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, Ticketmaster at 212.307.4100, or visit BAM's web site at www.bam.org.
Strindberg called the 1901 A Dream Play "my most beloved drama," describing it as a "mixture of Inetnories, experiences, free fancies, incongruities, and improvisations"- phrases that seemingly mirror descriptions of Wilson's signature surrealism. The play depicts the journey of the Hindu sky goddess (the daughter ofindra) to Earth, where she intends to learn how mankind lives. Through a number of loosely-structured scenes, she sees the difficulty of human life. A Dream Play has been a source of fascination for many of the world's greatest theater directors, including Max Reinhardt, Antonin Artaud, and Ingmar Bergman.
Wilson collaborated with Stockholm's Stadsteater on this production, which was created to celebrate Stockholm's turn as Culture Capital of Europe in 1998. Featuring a cast of seventeen actors in multiple parts, A Dream Play unfolds in thirteen vibrant tableaux. In keeping with Strindberg' s surrealist intention- the playwright explained in his preface that he "tried to imitate the disjointed but seemingly logical form of the dream ... [where] anything can happen, anything is possible and probable" - Wilson's staggering images, methodically-moving actors, and disembodied sounds combine to create a striking dream world. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, "Wilson's exquisite, meticulously designed transformation of Strindberg's coolly distancing, absurd, neurotic, elegant and head-spinning universe, makes such an indelible impression it is difficult to imagine another version."
About August Strindberg
Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849-1912) is widely considered one of the most important 20'11 century dramatists, whose canon of more than 60 plays significantly influenced playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill, George Bernard Shaw, Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett, and others. His ground breaking work paved the way for a new kind of non-realistic theater, including the symbolist and expressionist movements. Strindberg first achieved international notoriety as a result of his naturalist plays- tnany of which focussed on the battle between the sexes- including The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889). But arguably, his n1ost important contributions to modem drama are his surrealist "dream plays," including To Damascus (1898-190 1), A Dream Play (190 1), and The Ghost Sonata (1907), in which time and space are relative and atypical characters abound. Highlighting the separation between consciousness and unconsciousness, these plays foreshadowed Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories and their impact on Western drama.
more ... A Dream Play 3
About Robert Wilson
One of the leading figures in the avant-garde theater world, Wilson began his association with BAM in 1969 with The Life and Times ofSigmund Freud. Wilson's landmark productions include the seven-day play KA MOUNTain and GUARDenia Terrace (1972); The Life and Times (~(Joseph Stalin, a twelve-hour silent opera performed in 1973; The S Value ofMan (seen at BAM in 1975); and Einstein on the Beach, an opera with Philip Glass (1976, tnounted at BAM in 1984 and 1992). Other BAM presentations include The Golden Windows (I 985), The Forest (1988), The Black Rider (1993), Alice (1995), Time Rocker (1997), and most recently, Monsters q{Grace (1998). Each summer, Wilson leads an international, multi-disciplinary institute for the creation and development of new work at the Watennill Center in eastern Long Island, New York. Currently, Wilson's visual artistry is on display at New York's Guggenheim Museum, where he designed the Giorgio Armani exhibit on view through January 17, 2001.
About Stockholm's Stadsteater
Founded 40 years ago, Stockholm's Stadsteater is one of the largest organizations dedicated to contetnporary theater in Europe. Every year, Stadsteater produces 20-25 plays on seven stages, including new works, puppet theater, plays for young audiences, and classics. Stadsteater is led by Artistic & Executive Director Peter Wahlqvist, who in recent years has helped create an international profile for the theater by engaging directors such as Robert Wilson, Frank Castorf, Daniel Benoin, and Giles Havergal. Upcoming Stadsteater presentations include the Royal Shakespeare C01npany's Hamlet, directed by John Caird (December 2000); a Robert Wilson production of Chekhov's Three Sisters (September 2001); and a co-production with The Market Theatre (Johannesburg) in summer 2001. A Dream Play marks Stadsteater's U.S. debut.
Related BAMca{¢ Live programming fn conjunction with A Dream Play, BAMcc~fe Live- the live performance series at BAMcafe (3 0 Lafayette A venue )- presents Michael Galasso, an internationally-acclaimed con1poser, violinist, tnusical director, and frequent Robert Wilson collaborator, on Friday, Noven1ber 24 at 9pm. Galasso, who composed the tnusic for Wilson's production of A Dream Play, first worked with Wilson on The Life and Times ofJoseph Stalin. At BAMcafe, Galasso (violin) and Indian vocalist and percussion tnaster Nandlal Nayak will combine India's tribaltnusical traditions with North Indian classical and pop music styles. BAMcafe Live events have no cover charge; there is a $10 food/drink n1ini1num. For inforn1ation and updates, call 718.636.4139. (For BAA1cafe Live press inforn1ation, contact Tan1ara McCaw at 718.636.4122 x2.)
more ... A Dream Play 4
Credits
BAM's 2000 Next Wave Festival is sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc. Programming in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House is supported and endowed by The Howard Gilman Foundation. BAM's New Media Partner is Lucent Technologies. Official Broadcast Sponsor is Bloomberg Radio AM 1130. Major sponsor for the A Dream Play engagement and opening night reception provided by The Absolut Company, Division ofVin & Sprint AB. Major support for A Dream Play is provided by The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, the City of Stockholm, and the Maria Bonnier-Dahlins Foundation. Additional support provided by The American Scandinavian Foundation. The Official Airline is Scandinavian Airlines. Opening night support provided by the Consulate General of Sweden.
General information
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, BAMcafe, and Shakespeare & Co. BAMshop are located in the main building at 3 0 Lafayette A venue (Lafayette and Ashland) in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located at 651 Fulton Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn' s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. Award-winning Tentation Catering provides food and beverages at BAMcafe, which features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights as well as Sounds ofPrai se (live gospel music with a soul-food buffet) on selected Sundays. A package including dinner in BAMcafe and a movie ticket to BAM Rose Cinemas is available for only $30 (at the box office only).
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, D, Q to Atlantic Avenue B, M, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street, C to Lafayette Avenue Train: Long Island Railroad to Flatbush A venue BAMbus: Departs from Whitney Museum at Philip Morris, 120 Park A venue at 42nct Street, one hour prior to most performances. Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM.
For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit www.bam.org. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster at 212.307.4100.
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