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Night Sky (play)
''Night Sky'' is a 1991 play by Susan Yankowitz, which originally premiered in New York starring Joan MacIntosh, under the direction of Joseph Chaikin, whose personal struggles with stroke and aphasia were the original inspiration for the play. It was later produced Off-Broadway in a revised version under the direction of Daniella Topol and featuring Jordan Baker in the main role. Plot The play is set in modern times, and theatrically explores what Dr. Stephen Hawking called the two mysteries remaining to us: the brain and the cosmos. Anna, a brilliant and articulate astronomer, has her sights set on a promising academic career. However, her life is suddenly turned upside-down when she is struck by a car and develops aphasia. Without the ability to effectively communicate, as a "hodge-podge of unconnected words alternately confusing, funny, original and wise – and sometimes all four" becomes her normal pattern of speech, Anna's life becomes increasingly more difficult, in dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Yankowitz
Susan Yankowitz (born February 20, 1941 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American dramatist and novelist who has created works on mortality, violence against women and the Jonestown Massacre . Personal life Yankowitz gave birth to a son, Gabriel, in 1983. Career Yankowitz completed her undergraduate degree at Sarah Lawrence College, and she earned a graduate degree at the Yale School of Drama.William M. Hoffman, editor, New American Plays, volume 4 (1971) A Mermaid Drama Book / Hill & Wang, p.3. She subsequently submitted a play to Joseph Chaikin and The Open Theater. In 1968, Chaiken invited her to attend workshops at which The Open Theater was developing a performance piece on the topic of mortality. Unbeknownst to Yankowitz, she was actually one of three playwrights attending the workshops, who might be selected to write the text.Oral History Project. She was eventually chosen to write the text for the play which was titled ''Terminal.'' The play opened in repertory in May 1970 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Chaikin
Joseph Chaikin (September 16, 1935 – June 22, 2003) was an American theatre director, actor, playwright, and pedagogue. Early life and education The youngest of five children, Chaikin was born to a poor Jewish family living in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the age of six, he was struck with rheumatic fever, and he continued to suffer from resulting heart complications throughout his life. At the age of ten, he was sent to the National Children's Cardiac Hospital in Florida. It was during this period of isolation he began to organize theater games with other children. After two years in Florida, his health improved, and he was returned to his family, who had moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where his father had taken a job teaching. Chaikin briefly attended Drake University in Iowa, and then returned to New York to begin a career in theater, studying with various acting coaches, while struggling to survive working a variety of jobs. He appeared as a figurant at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |