Tonight at Anthology Film Archives: Meredith Monk fans have a rare opportunity to experience the filmed version of her Obie-winning masterwork, Quarry: an opera in three movements, shot at BAM in 1977. The film has been restored from 16mm to a new digital print.
From the film notes:
Composer, singer, director/choreographer, and filmmaker Meredith Monk created Quarry: an opera in three movements as a live stage work between 1975-76 – with her company, The House – as a mosaic of music, images, movement, dialogue, film, sound, and light. A meditation on WWII and recurring cycles of intolerance, fascism, and cruelty in history, Quarry centers on a sick American child (played by Monk herself) whose world darkens as her illness progresses. This film version, shot in the Lepercq Space at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1977, was directed by Amram Nowak and supervised by Monk, and includes her 1975 short silent film of the same name. Considered a masterwork of the 20th century, the piece is as prescient today as it was 40 years ago. It is at once a myth, a documentary, and a memorial.
We hear there is a new production in the works with an all-new cast.
Meredith Monk will be present for a Q&A following the screening, Monday, May 20, at 7:30pm. 32 Second Ave. (at 2nd St.) Tickets are available at Anthology’s box office on the day of the show only. More info can be found here.
