“The wackiest bromance in summer comedy.”
Oscar-nominated actor and founding member of The Wooster Group Willem Dafoe and legendary performer Mikhail Baryshnikov are a dapper odd couple, forced to deal with the most inconsiderate—and inanimate—of houseguests, in this surreal marriage of absurdism, pitch-black comedy, and vaudeville from director Robert Wilson.
Based on the recently rediscovered writings of Russian avant-garde author Daniil Kharms—a master of Beckettian and Kafkaesque nonsensical drama—and adapted by Darryl Pinckney, Wilson’s meticulously designed production riffs ingeniously on Kharms’ warped, disorienting world. Exquisitely lit sets flicker between flatness and depth, repeated gestures and phrases become deliriously strange, and Baryshnikov and Dafoe dazzle as two sides of the same corkscrewed mind, tending darkly to their unknown visitor.
Direction, set design, and lighting concept by Robert Wilson
Written by Daniil Kharms
Adapted by Darryl Pinckney
Music by Hal Willner
Costumes by Jacques Reynaud
Lighting design by A.J. Weissbard
Sound design by Marco Olivieri
A Baryshnikov Productions, Change Performing Art and The Watermill Center Project. Commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival, Spoleto Festival dei 2Mondi, Théâtre de la Ville-Paris/Festival d'Automne à Paris and deSingel, Antwerp.
More information and tickets here.