I AM AMERICA
Open Program of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards
Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards
16/10/2010
, 
23:00
Directed by: Mario Biagini
Poetic texts by: Allen Ginsberg
Music by: Open Program – Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards
Featuring: Itahisa Borges Méndez, Lloyd Bricken, Cinzia Cigna, Davide Curzio, Marina Gregory, Timothy Hopfner, Agnieszka Kazimierska, Felicita Marcelli, Alejandro Tomás Rodriguez, Chrystèle Saint-Louis Augustin, Julia Ulehla.
Produced by: Fondazione Pontedera Teatro
For the Allen Ginsberg texts, Copyright © by the Allen Ginsberg Trust, used with permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.
Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards would like to thank
"Bill Reichblum & Kadmus, Inc." for their support.
Running time: 1h 20 min
I AM AMERICA is the result of the research of the Open Program of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards into the meaning of the poetic word and its action. Directed by the Workcenter’s Associate Director, Mario Biagini, and based on the works of Allen Ginsberg (1927-1997), I AM AMERICA is a performance in which the poetic word sheds light on our place and function in our given social, economic and cultural landscape.
And so: America…that America who speaks about herself, her hopes, contradictions, wishes, brutal failures – that goddess of many disturbing or marvellous faces – what’s the difference between us and her? That America is us. Is me.
I’m watching you, embodied mankind – Look at your children, listen to what they ask – from where do you think these voices and chants come? What are these rhythms and poems? You are a kind of mother raised by her own children, and without them you will not be. Your flag, now an elegant dress, now a coffin, now a poor cloth of stone, now the beating wing of a starry, striped scared eagle —crosses and mourning bands…America, you celebrate your own wedding anniversary in these days of war and funeral, but do you ever notice? Where has your husband vanished, where is old Father Fish-Eye?
Riccardo Facco
www.pontederateatro.it
Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards
Grotowski arrived in Pontedera, Italy in 1986, and founded the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski. At the Workcenter, Grotowski developed a line of “performance research” known as Art as vehicle for 13 years until his death in 1999. Within this creative investigation, he worked very closely with Thomas Richards whom he called his “essential collaborator,” eventually changing the name of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski to include that of Richards. During those years of intense practical work, Grotowski transmitted to Richards the fruit of his lifetime research, what he called “the inner aspect of the work.” Grotowski entrusted Richards and Mario Biagini, a key member of the Workcenter team since its beginnings and presently its Associate Director, as the sole legatees of his Estate, including his entire body of written work, specifying this resignation as a confirmation of his “family of work.” Since Grotowski’s passing in 1999, Richards and Biagini have been continuing to develop the Workcenter’s performing
arts research in new directions.
www.pontederateatro.it
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