The Chocolate Factory LIC, New York March-April 2012
Produced with the permission of The David Foster Wallace Literary Trust
Drawing exclusively from audio recordings of award-winning writer David Foster Wallace (readings he gave of his short fiction, essays and an extensive interview he did for German television), director Daniel Fish and an ensemble of five actors seek to re-create the amazing presence Wallace brought to everything he wrote about, be it professional tennis, a boy’s thirteenth birthday or America’s obsession with entertainment. Tennis balls fly and individual listening devices serve as functioning props, delivering the text live to the actors. The selection, order and tempo of the recordings are mixed live during each performance. Wallace’s work as translated by the performers evokes both his presence and his absence, asking us: How present can we be? How generous in the way we experience the cacophony of our world?
“Part séance, part theatrical eulogy, and part eerie karaoke show….Fish is attempting to restore the spontaneity of thought to Wallace’s writing, and looking for the elusive interval when spontaneous talk begins to acquire literary shape.” – Village Voice