Strindberg Man

Where Genius And Problem Case Meet

Comments (0) By Michael Feingold Tuesday, Feb 27 2001

...continued from page 1

TEN UNKNOWNS
Opens March 8

photo: Bengt Wanselius

BAM turns down the lights for the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden's production of the Ghost Sonata.

More About

Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, 239-6200

In Jon Robin Baitz's new work, Donald Sutherland plays Malcolm Raphelson, a reclusive painter hiding in Mexico. Raphelson's reputation faded long ago, but his rediscovery by the art world throws his expat life into chaos. The notable cast also features Julianna Margulies, Justin Kirk, and the excellent Denis O'Hare, whom I sat behind all through high school. (Parks)

I WILL BEAR WITNESS
Opens March 11

Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, 677-4210

Victor Klemperer, a Jewish profes-sor in Dresden, kept a clandestine diary—a record of daily life under the Third Reich. Published in English to great acclaim last year, the diaries now provide the grist for a solo performance created by director Karen Malpede and actor George Bartenieff. (Soloski)

L'ISOLA DI ALCINA
Opens March 14

The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, 255-5793

Ubu prizes are Italy's big theater awards, and last year this production won three: Best Performance, Best Italian New Text, and Best Actress. Created by Ravenna's Teatro Delle Albe, L'isola di Alcina is a dark piece of music theater about two sisters abandoned by both their father and their shared lover—a structural parallel to do Euclid proud. Now the pair runs the family kennel, no doubt arguing about who let the dogs out. (Parks)

BACCHAE 2.1+A MOUTHFUL OF BIRDS
Opens March 23

The Flea Theater, 41 White Street, 226-0051

Having recently kept Company with their innovative adaptation of Samuel Beckett's eponymous radio play, this talented young troupe now runs riot with the New York premieres of two Bacchae adaptations. Doing Dionysus proud, they'll program Charles L. Mee's Bacchae 2.1 and chew on Caryl Churchill and David Lan's A Mouthful of Birds. (Soloski)

HAMLET
Opens April 24

BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100

Big kahuna Peter Brook fills the empty space of the BAM Harvey with his Hamletadaptation, Brook's first U.S. Shakespeare production in 30 years. Brook writes that his version "seeks to prune away the inessential." (Even Fortinbras?) Heading the international cast, Adrian Lester stars as the melancholy Dane—assuming Brook has left in the melancholy and Danish bits. (Soloski)

WONDER OF THE WORLD
Starts May 1

Manhattan Theatre Club, 131 West 55th Street, 581-1212

MTC finds itself over a barrel in David Lindsay-Abaire's new comedy. When a young wife discovers a dastardly secret inside her husband's sweater drawer—funny, I only ever discover sweaters—she lights out for Niagara Falls. An eccentric supporting cast—including a Brobdingnagian jar of peanut butter—gets wet as well. Christopher Ashley directs. (Soloski)