Word just came from the Abrons Arts Center that they’ve added a second afternoon show today of “Three Performances in Search of Tennessee.” The project (part of the Performa 11 festival) features James Franco and Laurel Nakadate. As you may have heard, the show is a bit unusual. Here’s the blurb from the Abrons event calendar:
(The project is) based around Tennessee Williams’ famous play The Glass Menagerie (1944). In part one, Franco and Nakadate will lead a séance in the Elysée Hotel in New York City, in the room in which Tennessee Williams died. With an invited group of participants, the artists will communicate with Tennessee Williams through an Ouija board and receive instructions from the author’s spirit. The group will pass his message on to the audience members, who will participate in the piece by following the spirit’s instructions. In part two, female actresses of all types will audition in front of a live audience for the part of Laura in The Glass Menagerie. In the tradition of karaoke, Laura’s lines will run along the bottom of a video-projection of Franco playing the “Gentleman Caller” as the actresses act out the given scene. A second audition for male actors will make up the final part of the project; this will be a live audition for actors wishing to play the role of Tom in The Glass Menagerie, all delivering the same monologue from the play. As with the women auditioning for Laura, Nakadate and Franco will intervene as “directors” as the actors’ attempt to inhabit the role. Three Performances in Search of Tennessee will be broadcast on the Internet.
The second performance begins at 1:45 p.m. Run don’t walk to the box office, 466 Grand Street.
