The Wild Party
Queenie was a blond and her age stood still,
And she danced twice a day in vaudeville
The Wild Party was written in 1926 by New Yorker editor Joseph Moncure March, and immediately banned in Boston. It is a witty risqué poem about two vaudeville performers who fight, make up, throw a party, and flirt with danger.
A rediscovered lost classic, the recently republished version by Art Spiegelman inspired ShadowLight to create a shadow setting for the poem. The Wild Party explores the American artistic traditions of jazz, film noir, and poetry. Written in 1926, it is a witty risque poem about two vaudeville performers who fight, make up, throw a party and flirt with danger.
Set in shadows with a live jazz band, and original compositions by Bruce Forman, the performance fuses film ideas with modern shadow techniques derived from the ancient art form. It is the poem that inspired William Burroughs to become a writer.
Performers:
Ramon Abad, Diana Alden Lang, Matthew Antaky, Marc Bauman, Consuelo Faust, Lisa Flynn Kitchen, Bruce Forman, Ron Graham, Art Grueneberger, Vince Lateano, Hugo Martinez, Wendy Morton, Ron Obregon, Greg Patterson, Larry Reed, Jeff Rochford, Dianne Shields, Luke Westbrook
The Wild Party was first performed at Theater Artaud in San Francisco in 1995. It has been further refined in residencies at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut, and at Kent State University in Ohio. The Wild Party was re-mounted in October of '97 in San Francisco at SOMAR Cultural Center as part of Re/Beat, a month long celebration of Beat and Bohemian culture.
It was performed in San Francisco, The Eugene O‚Neill Theater Center, and Kent State University in 1995 and 1996.
Quotes from the press:
”A clever marriage of traditional Balinese shadow theater and American film noir.”
- Norwich Bulletin
“Reed has fused music, motion and shadow to create a continuously flowing spectacle.”
- SF Weekly
“It's a beautiful communication with the audience. It creates a sense of harmony.”
- Cherie Panek, The Plain Dealer, Arts & Living
