Valparaiso (play)
 | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Reception section contains no prose, only links to reviews. (February 2024) |
Valparaiso is
Valparaíso, Chile, instead of Valparaiso, Indiana.[1]
The 1999 play, which incorporates live performance with video projection, looks at how the media has affected modern mankind. The central character, Michael Majeski, tries desperately to establish his own identity by throwing himself under the spotlight of celebrity. The piece is composed entirely of interviews, for a range of different media, and culminates in the protagonist committing assisted suicide with a microphone lead on a TV talk show.
Valparaiso received its premiere at the
Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and a French-language version in Paris. In 2002, the Rude Mechanicals of New York staged the New York premiere, referred to by The New York Times as "a revelatory new production", directed by Hal Brooks. In 2003, it received its college premiere at Savannah College of Art and Design
under the auspices of the Ghlei company.
In 2005, DeLillo granted the UK premiere rights of the play to 24-year-old
Old Red Lion Theatre in London on April 25, 2006. The production was produced by Weaver Hughes Ensemble. US productions in 2007 were: The Garage Theatre in Long Beach, California, directed by Jeff Kriese; The Hideout Theatre in Austin, Texas
, directed by Jeremy O. Torres. US productions in 2008 include HB Studio, an HB Ensemble production, in New York City, directed by Rasa Allan Kazlas.
Reception
- The New York Times
- The New York Times (again)
- The Daily Telegraph
- The Financial Times
- The London Review
- MusicOMH
- The Stage
Performances
References
- ^ DeLillo, Don. Conversations with Don DeLillo. United States, University of Mississippi, 2005. 169.