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Event
Night Just Before the Forest by Bernard-Marie Koltès
Lake Como in Rome Presents
NIGHT JUST BEFORE THE FOREST
by Bernard-Marie Koltès
Translated by Timothy Johns
Performed by Kevin V. Smith
Directed by Elisabeth Barnick
Assistant Directed by Melissa Lorraine
"Whoever says You does not have something; he has nothing. But he stands in relation." Martin Buber, I and Thou
"Night Just Before the Forest" is a one-man show poetically chronicling the exploits of an unnamed narrator as he grapples with urban alienation and searches for a You among the assholes and the whores and the blonde bitches and the punks and the sandnigger hunters. As one of Koltès' earliest full-length pieces, it burns from the full fire of the theme that was to dominate much of his later work, the 'deal' that binds those engaging in human contact within the roles of supplier and consumer. This narrator follows no direct path toward You, what we witness is a circuitous path that winds its way through the narrator's memory as he tries to find a space for two people with no roles, only I and You, in direct relation.
BERNARD-MARIE KOLTÈS was heralded as the most important new young playwright of the 1980s, but had his immensely promising career cut short when he died due to complications from AIDS at age 41 in Paris in 1989. He studied directing at the Théâtre National de Strasbourg. "Night Just Before the Forest" was first presented at the 1977 Avignon Festival. It was later performed in Paris and went on to receive First Prize at the 1981 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. Koltès is known also for his plays "Struggle of the Dogs and the Black" (1982), which has been performed in New York, Paris, Vienna, Belgrade, Munich and London, "In the Solitude of Cotton Fields" (1987), which premiered in Paris under the direction of Patrice Chéreau, and "Roberto Zucco" (1990), which premiered at the Schaubühne in Berlin. Bernard-Marie Koltès has been the recipient of several fellowships and awards, including the prestigious Prix du Jeune Talent de la Société des Auteurs in 1982.
LAKE COMO IN ROME is Theatre Y company members Elisabeth Barnick, Melissa Lorraine, and Kevin V. Smith, whose creative collaboration began with Theatre Y's Exiled Trilogy in the summer of 2011. Having these three shows, Exiles, Vincent River, and The Misunderstanding garner critical praise and top several year end best of lists, the three felt their efforts merited a continued collaborative artistic home. Thus Lake Como in Rome, taken from Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground, was born to herald the three forward in their collective pursuits.
Run time: 75 minutes, no intermission
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LocationThe Viaduct Theater (View)
3111 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618
United States
Categories
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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