Don, yes, yes, yes and yes. I was introduced into Richard's strange world at the tender age of 13, when, for some reason, my parents took me to see his musical collaboration with Stanley Silverman Dr. Selavy's Magic Theater. This was the beginning of the intoxication until, like you, I permanently entered the cult with Rhoda in Potatoland. But I have to say my favorite of his productions was a little noticed play from his video-with-live-action period in 2008 called Deep Trance Behavior. I wrote something about that experience here:
David! thanks so much for your kind words AND for alerting me to what you wrote about "Deep Trance Behavior." I saw all or almost all of Foreman's late experiments in film+theater, and none of them really landed for me, possibly because of the challenge you refer to of watching the film action vs. the live action. But I very much enjoyed seeing the piece through your perceptive, enthusiastic eyes!
so great to read... to relive some and to learn more and to be moved again about being alive to witness this great artist. I will be ever grateful to my husband, Henry Stram, for introducing me to the world of Foreman. One of my favorites...indelible, Henry in Eddie Gos to poetry City. thanks Don xm
I've been thinking about Foreman, what he meant, what he represented, and what he was a part of in the New York of the 70s (and obviously beyond). I, too, had my life changed by Rhoda and I, too, remember being astounded by the endless space. I wonder if we were there at the same time! What a time of great artistic ferment! I want to add Charles Ludlam, Robert Wilson (in the era of The Dollar Value of Man) and the Schechner era of the Performance Group to your list. Thanks for writing this, and reminding me of his greeting everyone at the entrance! Sometimes the sound in his pieces was like a distant memory when the volume of some old recording would be brought low. That's the way I remember the productions I saw, like a memory that has grown fuzzy and distant with time - but with a feeling of warm delight. I'm not sure he would have liked "warm delight" to describe a response to his art! Thanks for writing this and I'm envious you got to be directed by him!
He sounds like a true original. Intellect combined with rascally wit and a need to disturb. I wish I had been in New York in the 80s, but I got a taste of the SF underground theater scene before SF imploded, full of these remarkable ridiculous tragicomic characters.
"rascally wit and a need to disturb" -- good description! I neglected to include in my remembrance that there's a substantial archive of video documentation of his productions online here: https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Foreman.php. Many of the videos are low-res and documentary rather than beautifully shot and edited but they give you some idea of the work....
Don, yes, yes, yes and yes. I was introduced into Richard's strange world at the tender age of 13, when, for some reason, my parents took me to see his musical collaboration with Stanley Silverman Dr. Selavy's Magic Theater. This was the beginning of the intoxication until, like you, I permanently entered the cult with Rhoda in Potatoland. But I have to say my favorite of his productions was a little noticed play from his video-with-live-action period in 2008 called Deep Trance Behavior. I wrote something about that experience here:
https://lakeivan.substack.com/p/overlapping-loops-deep-trance-behavior
Thank you Don, for your beautifully written remembrance.
David! thanks so much for your kind words AND for alerting me to what you wrote about "Deep Trance Behavior." I saw all or almost all of Foreman's late experiments in film+theater, and none of them really landed for me, possibly because of the challenge you refer to of watching the film action vs. the live action. But I very much enjoyed seeing the piece through your perceptive, enthusiastic eyes!
so great to read... to relive some and to learn more and to be moved again about being alive to witness this great artist. I will be ever grateful to my husband, Henry Stram, for introducing me to the world of Foreman. One of my favorites...indelible, Henry in Eddie Gos to poetry City. thanks Don xm
A superb and moving tribute, Don. Well done.
thanks, Jeremy!
I've been thinking about Foreman, what he meant, what he represented, and what he was a part of in the New York of the 70s (and obviously beyond). I, too, had my life changed by Rhoda and I, too, remember being astounded by the endless space. I wonder if we were there at the same time! What a time of great artistic ferment! I want to add Charles Ludlam, Robert Wilson (in the era of The Dollar Value of Man) and the Schechner era of the Performance Group to your list. Thanks for writing this, and reminding me of his greeting everyone at the entrance! Sometimes the sound in his pieces was like a distant memory when the volume of some old recording would be brought low. That's the way I remember the productions I saw, like a memory that has grown fuzzy and distant with time - but with a feeling of warm delight. I'm not sure he would have liked "warm delight" to describe a response to his art! Thanks for writing this and I'm envious you got to be directed by him!
He sounds like a true original. Intellect combined with rascally wit and a need to disturb. I wish I had been in New York in the 80s, but I got a taste of the SF underground theater scene before SF imploded, full of these remarkable ridiculous tragicomic characters.
"rascally wit and a need to disturb" -- good description! I neglected to include in my remembrance that there's a substantial archive of video documentation of his productions online here: https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Foreman.php. Many of the videos are low-res and documentary rather than beautifully shot and edited but they give you some idea of the work....
Nicely rendered piece. Beautifully remembered