Paradise Island: Thank you Atlantis (the Cove). Thank you Sean McKinney

View from my window

Paradise beach

a detail of one of my bathrooms

GT- dwarfed by the grandiosity of….

AVISO a imprensa brasileira;

POR FAVOR ESTEJAM AVISADOS QUE, PARA QUAISQUER CONTATOS COM A IMPRENSA E TV NO BRASIL, POR FAVOR DIRIJAM-SE A

NEY MOTTA:

email: contato@neymotta.com.br

Muito obrigado.

Gerald Thomas

FOR THOSE WHO KNOW WHERE I AM, PLEASE PLEASE STOP PESTERING WITH EMAILS ASKING EVERY 10 MINUTES HOW I’M FEELING: I’M FINE! REALLY! FINE UNTIL I GET YOUR EMAILS
Thank you kindly.
LOVE
G

Arranhando a Superfície – Voe Trip / janeiro 2013

Gerald Thomas – Judith Malina / interview October 2008

Gerald Thomas entrevista Judith Malina

 (Especial para a Folha de São Paulo)

São Paulo, sábado, 04 de outubro de 2008Texto Anterior | Próximo Texto | Índice “Temos de rir”, diz Judith Malina Diretora do Living Theatre vem ao Brasil receber medalha por reparação pelo fato de ter sido presa durante a ditadura Além da homenagem, Malina também dará aulas para atores na Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras, no Rio de Janeiro  Fabiana Guglielmetti Judith Malina, diretora do grupo Living Theatre, que estreou peça baseada em Edgar Allan Poe em Nova York, durante entrevista GERALD THOMAS ESPECIAL PARA A FOLHA Confesso que meus joelhos estavam trêmulos quando o “yellow cab” me deixou na esquina da East Houston com Clinton Street, em Nova York. Andei alguns passos, e tomei fôlego para ir até os “headquarters” do Living Theatre. Vi a preparação de “Eureka”, adaptação de texto de Edgar Allan Poe que estreou nesta semana no espaço do grupo, e subi ao segundo andar, onde mora Judith Malina, sua diretora. O Living Theatre foi um dos grupos de teatro mais influentes do mundo. Sem a filosofia deles, não teríamos hoje o Oficina, no Brasil (leia ao lado). Sim, é triste sim, porque a última vez em que nos vimos, em maio, ela estava deitada numa esteira no meio da sala, dezenas de pessoas ao redor. Seu companheiro de 40 anos, Hanon Reznikov, havia morrido no dia anterior. Eu tinha ido ao enterro em Paramus, Nova Jersey. Ela nos olhava como se seu mundo fosse acabar ali. O mundo da última beat iria acabar sem deixar um último berro, um último manifesto: Hanon morreu abruptamente, de um derrame, aos 57, de repente. Durante o enterro, eu não parava de olhar pra essa jovem alemã pequena, de 82 anos, que também me olhava e cochichava em meus ouvidos “What went wrong, Gerald?” (O que deu errado, Gerald?). Ambos olhávamos o caixão em que o corpo de Hanon cozinhava num calor de 32ºC e meus olhos iam pra tumba de Julian Beck (1925-1985), o primeiro marido de Judith, líder e fundador do Living Theatre, também enterrado ali. Eu estava no enterro do Julian em 1985. Julian morreu durante a turnê de um espetáculo meu, a “Beckett Trilogy”, em que atuou, pela primeira vez fora do seu Living. Beck e Beckett, onde um homem ouvia sua própria voz em três fases diferentes de sua vida no passado. As filas no La MaMa davam voltas no quarteirão: o povo sabia que ele estava com câncer terminal. Eu fazia o meu meta-teatro e eles vieram dizer o seu adeus. Um homem quase morto ouvindo vozes do passado: era de levantar a pele! Na semana passada, subindo as escadas pro apartamento, depois de seis meses sem vê-la, encontrei-a bem humorada, às vezes aos prantos, jovial, energética e divertida. Levantou num pulo. Algumas várias lágrimas durante a entrevista. Judith Malina receberá a Ordem do Mérito Cultural do Ministério da Cultura brasileiro na próxima terça, em cerimônia a ser realizada no Teatro Municipal do Rio, com a presença do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva e do ministro da Cultura, Juca Ferreira. Em 1971, membros de seu grupo foram presos acusados de participar de atividades subversivas. Leia abaixo trechos da conversa com Malina. JUDITH MALINA – Ainda não posso ser deixada sozinha. Nunca fui deixada sozinha desde o Julian, que me colocava três refeições por dia na mesa… Não sou bipolar, mas sou exagerada, você me conhece, tenho energia demais e preciso exercitá-la GERALD THOMAS – Mas todos te vêem como uma super-mulher. A batalhadora, quase invencível. MALINA – Que nada. Sou inútil pra coisas práticas. Não sei lidar com coisas reais, atender um telefone, nunca precisei escrever um cheque, não sei o que é uma conta de luz. THOMAS – E o espetáculo, “Eureka”? MALINA – Estamos fazendo essa produção com garra e com zero tostões. THOMAS – Mas com vocês foi sempre assim… MALINA – Mas agora vendemos todas as pinturas de Julian e não sei como continuar. Você sabe que as coisas pioraram no mundo do teatro. THOMAS – Nem me fale! MALINA – Aqui e no mundo inteiro. Precisamos berrar mais do que nunca. Ou seremos enterrados vivos. Estou indo pro Brasil receber uma medalha de honra de reparação de danos. Gosto muitíssimo do Brasil. Aliás, é o país de que mais gosto. Brasil primeiro, Itália depois e, sei la qual é o terceiro. THOMAS – Você vai dar workshops na Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras… MALINA – Porque sinto que os atores brasileiros têm fome de saber. Te abraçam com tudo e se jogam sem medo. Nos outros lugares estão com muito medo. Eu sou sobrevivente de guerra e me pergunto: “medo de quê”? THOMAS – Te conto: ator hoje tem medo de falar de como perdeu a virgindade, a caretice é enorme. Crêem que a história começou ontem. MALINA – Não que sejamos nostálgicos. Mas existe uma geração que deletou ou não absorveu toda uma cultura de demonstração, de contracultura, de agitprop. Por isso quero escrever meus diários e o que Erwin Piscator me ensinou. THOMAS – Uma condecoração no Brasil substitui o tempo que você ficou presa? MALINA – Nada vai tirar aquilo da minha memória. Foi horrível, por isso esse diário da prisão é importante (leia ao lado). THOMAS – No início da década de 60, o teu teatro revolucionou o mundo. Na década de 70, você estava confinada numa prisão em Minas Gerais. Hoje, você tem liberdade para viajar e berrar. Mas adianta? MALINA – Quero abraçar o mundo com as pernas, com os braços. Amo tudo isso, amo estar viva e percebo que o mundo inteiro é um fracasso. Temos de rir. GERALD THOMAS é autor e diretor teatral

Judith Malina – “That time, that time you went back… when was that?” “Apollo Beckett 2013”

Judith Malina – the hero / heroine of the counter culture movement.

The Beckett Trilogy

New York Times, March 8, 1985

STEPHEN HOLDEN

The American premiere of a work by Samuel Beckett has to be counted among the more significant events of any theatrical season. And when that premiere involves three patriarchs of today’s experimental theater, expectations are bound to run high. ”Samuel Beckett Trilogy” – an evening of short pieces that opens at the La Mama Annex on Sunday – will bring together George Bartenieff, Fred Neumann and Julian Beck. That three such figures should gather for almost a month of Beckett constitutes a rare kind of tribute from one generation of experimentalists – the three men are in their 50’s – to the 78-year- old author who started it all.

Mr. Bartenieff, with his wife, Crystal Field, is the co-founder and co- artistic director of Theater for the New City, the East Village company that has won more than 25 Obie awards and presented the New York premiere of Sam Shepard’s ”Buried Child.” Fred Neumann is a founder of Mabou Mines, the experimental theater collective, and recently won an Obie in the company’s production of Franz Xavier Kroetz’s ”Through the Leaves.” And Julian Beck, as a co- founder of the Living Theater, with his wife, Judith Malina, is an experimental theater legend. His appearance in ”Samuel Beckett Trilogy” will be his first stage performance outside his own troupe in 20 years.

The man who brought this remarkable trio together is Gerald Thomas, the 30-year-old director of last year’s critically acclaimed production of the Beckett monodrama ”All Strange Away.”

Three Sparse Works

Mr. Thomas, discussing his casting coup during an interview the other day, spoke of the ”Beckettian qualities” of his three stars. ”I’d been an admirer of Julian’s for a long time, and there is something about his body, face, and mind – his aura of solemnity and peace – that strikes me as quintessentially Beckettian,” the director said. ”Fred Neumann is an old Beckettian whom I met a few years ago, when I saw him doing an extraordinary production of Beckett’s ‘Company.’ George Bartenieff, whom I had met in passing many times, always looked to me like Clove from ‘Endgame.’ ”

The sparse works that make up ”Samuel Beckett Trilogy” are ”Theater I,” ”Theater II” and ”That Time,” all written in the 1970’s. ”Theater I” and ”Theater II” are plays for two and three characters, and ”That Time” a solo monologue featuring Mr. Beck.

The first work is reminiscent of ”Endgame”: its setting is ”ruins” and its two characters survivors. ”Theater II” is more realistic, almost Pinteresque, with autobiographical elements. In it, a man mysteriously summons two characters to whom he never speaks but who converse about him and assess his life with a brutal detachment. For ”That Time,” the dialogue is taped, as Mr. Beck plays a man listening and reacting to three different aspects of his own mind. These three voices, all Mr. Beck’s, speak in different timbres that the director has arranged into a sort of musical counterpoint.

Reverence for Playwright

Discussing their feelings about Beckett and the challenge of performing him, all three actors spoke in a tone of reverence.

”I’ve found that even in those Beckett monologues not written for stage, there is a live speaking voice,” Mr. Neumann said. ”At the same time, there are so few words. In striking the notes, it is a challenge not to impose an interpretation, but to leave it open. Sometimes, I think that not even words, but simple noises would suffice.”

Of the three actors, Mr. Neumann is the only one who has had a close relationship with the playwright. He attended the premiere of ”Waiting for Godot” in 1953, and later performed in or directed other Beckett works, including ”Cascando,” ”Mercier and Camier” and ”Company,” for Mabou Mines. Recently, the playwright granted him permission to direct a new piece called ”Worstward, Ho,” which Mabou Mines will present at the Public Theater late this season or early next.

”It’s a very grim text,” Mr. Neumann observed. ”I think the title refers to the setting sun. When I saw Beckett last December, he said, ‘O.K., Fred, but no music, for pity’s sake – it’s my last gasp.’

The American premiere of a work by Samuel Beckett has to be counted among the more significant events of any theatrical season. And when that premiere involves three patriarchs of today’s experimental theater, expectations are bound to run high. ”Samuel Beckett Trilogy” – an evening of short pieces that opens at the La Mama Annex on Sunday – will bring together George Bartenieff, Fred Neumann and Julian Beck. That three such figures should gather for almost a month of Beckett constitutes a rare kind of tribute from one generation of experimentalists – the three men are in their 50’s – to the 78-year- old author who started it all.

Mr. Bartenieff, with his wife, Crystal Field, is the co-founder and co- artistic director of Theater for the New City, the East Village company that has won more than 25 Obie awards and presented the New York premiere of Sam Shepard’s ”Buried Child.” Fred Neumann is a founder of Mabou Mines, the experimental theater collective, and recently won an Obie in the company’s production of Franz Xavier Kroetz’s ”Through the Leaves.” And Julian Beck, as a co- founder of the Living Theater, with his wife, Judith Malina, is an experimental theater legend. His appearance in ”Samuel Beckett Trilogy” will be his first stage performance outside his own troupe in 20 years.

The man who brought this remarkable trio together is Gerald Thomas, the 30-year-old director of last year’s critically acclaimed production of the Beckett monodrama ”All Strange Away.”

Three Sparse Works

Mr. Thomas, discussing his casting coup during an interview the other day, spoke of the ”Beckettian qualities” of his three stars. ”I’d been an admirer of Julian’s for a long time, and there is something about his body, face, and mind – his aura of solemnity and peace – that strikes me as quintessentially Beckettian,” the director said. ”Fred Neumann is an old Beckettian whom I met a few years ago, when I saw him doing an extraordinary production of Beckett’s ‘Company.’ George Bartenieff, whom I had met in passing many times, always looked to me like Clove from ‘Endgame.’ ”

The sparse works that make up ”Samuel Beckett Trilogy” are ”Theater I,” ”Theater II” and ”That Time,” all written in the 1970’s. ”Theater I” and ”Theater II” are plays for two and three characters, and ”That Time” a solo monologue featuring Mr. Beck.

The first work is reminiscent of ”Endgame”: its setting is ”ruins” and its two characters survivors. ”Theater II” is more realistic, almost Pinteresque, with autobiographical elements. In it, a man mysteriously summons two characters to whom he never speaks but who converse about him and assess his life with a brutal detachment. For ”That Time,” the dialogue is taped, as Mr. Beck plays a man listening and reacting to three different aspects of his own mind. These three voices, all Mr. Beck’s, speak in different timbres that the director has arranged into a sort of musical counterpoint.

Reverence for Playwright

Discussing their feelings about Beckett and the challenge of performing him, all three actors spoke in a tone of reverence.

”I’ve found that even in those Beckett monologues not written for stage, there is a live speaking voice,” Mr. Neumann said. ”At the same time, there are so few words. In striking the notes, it is a challenge not to impose an interpretation, but to leave it open. Sometimes, I think that not even words, but simple noises would suffice.”

Of the three actors, Mr. Neumann is the only one who has had a close relationship with the playwright. He attended the premiere of ”Waiting for Godot” in 1953, and later performed in or directed other Beckett works, including ”Cascando,” ”Mercier and Camier” and ”Company,” for Mabou Mines. Recently, the playwright granted him permission to direct a new piece called ”Worstward, Ho,” which Mabou Mines will present at the Public Theater late this season or early next.

”It’s a very grim text,” Mr. Neumann observed. ”I think the title refers to the setting sun. When I saw Beckett last December, he said, ‘O.K., Fred, but no music, for pity’s sake – it’s my last gasp.’

For Mr. Bartenieff, the challenge in acting Beckett is to do justice to a vision he described as ”awe-inspiring.” ”The level of existence Beckett evokes is harsh, but imbued with a fierce passion to go on,” he said. ”And in these days, it speaks to one in a very direct way.”

On the Brink of Music

Mr. Beck sees his monologue as being about ”the vacuity of existence in so many lives and our intense concentration on relatively insignificant things.” He added, ”It seems to me a critique of human sensibility in its present stage of evolution. But it ends with a significant note of survival and hope.”

Mr. Thomas, describing his approach to the works, returned to Mr. Neumann’s musical analogy. ”All three pieces are being directed very much on the brink of bursting into music, because in all of Beckett’s work you’re dealing with a mind conducting a dialectic. I like to divide it up in sounds. But in the end, these voices and the hidden emotional resources within them are different versions and evolutionary stages of a single being.”

”Samuel Beckett Trilogy” will be performed at La Mama, 74A East Fourth Street, Wednesday through Sunday evenings at 7, through March 31. All seats are $15, with Theater Development Fund vouchers accepted on Friday and Saturday evenings. Rates for students and the elderly are available. The box office and charge number is 475-7710.

Beware of your friends!!! Andy Warhol a recurring theme!

Never mind

Andy Warhol , a recurring theme in my plays and operas (a red thread, so to speak) this production: Babylon, Mannheim 1997 composer Detlef Heusinger Directed, set and lighting Gerald Thomas

Andy Warhol – a recurring theme in my plays and operas – this one in Moses un Aron (Arnold Schoenberg) Graz, Austria, 1998, directed by Gerald Thomas

Andy Warhol – a recurring theme in my plays and operas – this one THE VENTRILOQUIST (!999) my play , 4 years in repertoire.