Richard Foreman: New Recordings Spanning Five Decades

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 01:06:13 EST

We've been very proud to feature the work of playwright and Ontological-Hysteric Theater founder Richard Foreman since very close to our site's inception. PennSound co-founder Charles Bernstein recently announced a major set of new additions to Foreman's PennSound author page, hailing him as "the greatest visionary theater director of the period," and noting that the page now "includes the full production films and videos of many of his productions."

Edited by Jay Sanders, our Foreman collection spans forty-five years, beginning with excerpts from early works — Rhoda in Potatoland (1975), Livre des Splendeurs (1976, Paris), Blvd. de Paris: I've Got the Shakes (1977), Threepenny Opera (1976), Book of Splendors; Part II (Book of Leaves) Action at a Distance (1977), Sophia = (Wisdom): Part 3: The Cliffs (1972) — before moving on to films and complete plays. They include Luogo and Barsaglio (Place and Target) (1980), La Robe de Chambre de Georges Bataille (1983), Cure (1986), Symphony of Rats (1988), Lava (1989), Eddie Goes to Poetry City Parts 1 and 2 (1990-1991), The Mind King (1992), Samuel's Major Problems (1993), My Head Was a Sledgehammer (1994), I've Got the Shakes (1995), The Universe (1996), Permanent Brain Damage (1996), Benita Canova (1997), The Missing Jewels of Benita Canova (1997; Elka Krajewska's behind-the-scene documentary [with interviews] of Benita Canova), Pearls for Pigs (1997), Paradise Hotel (1998), Bad Boy Nietzsche! (2000), Now That Communism Is Dead My Life Feels Empty! (2001), Maria del Bosco (2002), Panic! (How to be Happy!) (2003), King Cowboy Rufus Rules the Universe (2004), The Gods Are Pounding My Head! (aka Lumberjack Messiah) (2005), What to Wear (2006), Zomboid (2006).

Beyond these new additions, you'll also find a 2006 appearance on Close Listening with Bernstein, a pair of Segue Series readings, a 2006 appearance at the Penn Humanities Forum, a half-dozen appearances on Cross-Cultural Poetics, and Foreman's 2017 film, Now You See It Now You Don't. To start browsing through all of these amazing documents, click here to visit PennSound's Richard Foreman author page.

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Richard Foreman: New Recordings Spanning Five Decades