Details:
Details: Directed by Anne Simon, Squirrels by David Mamet is being performed (in English) at the Théâtre National du Luxembourg (TNL) in a 6-show run.
Performances will be on 25, 27 & 30 June, as well as on 2, 3 & 6 July, all at 20:00, with performances by Thomas Maximilian Held, Siobhàn McMillan, Jules Werner. Synopsis: Arthur is a hack writer who has seen better days. He has hired fledgling Edmond as a secretary/collaborator. Arthur is endlessly rewriting the same story about an encounter between a man and a squirrel in a park, a story which, as far as he's concerned, has a terribly deep significance – though exactly what it signifies, he is unable or unwilling to say. Edmond is meek and achingly eager to please, even while Arthur bullies him, intimidates him, ignores his ideas and steals his lunch. They soon discover that Arthur's flamboyant redundancy clashes with Edmond's mediocre melodramatic style as they each develop increasingly ridiculous scenarios for the story. The dynamism of their writers' block is constantly interrupted by Arthur's ex-collaborator, now his cleaning lady, also an aspiring writer with a latent sexual obsession, whose suggestions seem to be the most promising. But slowly the self-sabotaging introspection that paralyses the other two into banality is infecting her, too. Squirrels is a rollicking, frolicking, nonetheless tender excursion into the forbidding realm of literary creativity, whimsy and despair. David Mamet is considered as one of the most important playwrights of our time. As a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997). He directed also a lot of movies. Homicide (1991) was nominated for the Palme d'Or in Cannes. Mamet directed himself the first production of Squirrels at the St. Nicholas Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois in 1974. Anne Simon will explore the full spectrum between the naturalistic and the hysterical-fantastical, analysing the actual creative moment (or creative block in our case): Under the static tension of the idea that does not want to come out, like a cherry that refuses to pop, the mise en scène will oscillate between real and the imaginary, fully using a text's potential that reaches from the downright banal to the hilarity of failure and despair. Director: Anne Simon Set and Costumes: Marie-Luce Theis Assistant: Daliah Kentges Make-up: Joël Seiller Dresser: Alice Theissen Venue: Théâtre National du Luxembourg Organiser: Théâtre National du Luxembourg Price: Reservations: Info:
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