We mustn't fight anymore. It leaves me so exhausted I can't make love.
-- The Man from The Day On Which A Man Dies

 

The Day On Which A Man Dies

Jackson Pollock befriended Williams in 1940 when they met in Provincetown. In 1960, Williams wrote a fierce fantasia on the great painter’s death — and kept the text for himself. Williams’ “secret script” is dedicated to Japanese visionary writer Yukio Mishima. As in Japanese Gutai performance art, paintings are created and destroyed in the course of the performance of “The Day On Which a Man Dies.” The painter’s faithless lover rages at his unraveling. A wry Mishima stand-in marvels at the messiness of Western self-destruction.

Chicago’s National Pastime Theater has revived Festival Curator David Kaplan’s harrowing Chicago production, which premiered in 2008.  The play will be performed in East Hampton, New York, in August 2009 in conjunction with the Pollock-Krasner Museum. It will then come to Provincetown’s premiere museum for two unforgettable performances during the Festival.

Photo Montage by Michael McGowan

Chicago critics hailed the production as… “…a triumph of emotions…”(Chicago Critic)
with “meticulously crafted and blazingly honest performances that cry ‘Acting should be like this!” (New City Stage)

Click here to see what else they're saying about this stunning production. PDF

 

Learn more

Williams was influenced by Jackson Pollock’s death. Read the Cape Arts Review article on the subject. Click here... PDF

Tennessee Williams used a masterfully controlled use of color on stage.  Discover how color is extremely significant in this play from the director and TW Fest curator, David Kaplan, in this article for Provincetown Arts. Click here… PDF

The Day on which a man dies

by Tennessee Williams
directed and designed by David Kaplan
produced by National Pastime Theater

featuring
Jeff Christian as the Man
Jennie Moreau as the Woman
Gerson Dacanay as the Oriental
Helen Young as the Stage Assistant

Production Artist & Body Painter Taylor Entwistle
Original paintings by Megan Tracy
Costumes by Laura B. Kollar
Floor Manager/Technical Director Steven Besic
Production Manager Keely Haddad-Null
Producer Laurence Bryan

 

Event Sponsored By: