Staged Reading: The Mammaries of Tiresias
by Apollinaire, translated by Maya Slater
Directed by Meryn MacDougall
One night only, Sunday, January 12th, 2020, 5 p.m.
Free with admission to the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive (Program PDF)
SURREALISM PERFORMED:
Join Actors Ensemble of Berkeley in a special performance at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), in conjunction with their exhibition "Strange", in a performance of this rarely performed French proto-surrealist play by Guillaume Apollinaire. In his correspondence in preparation for its debut performance, Apollinaire concocted the word "Surreal" to describe it, a word which was subsequently appropriated by Andre Breton to describe the entire movement. "The Mammaries of Tiresias" turns sexual identity, gender norms, and the need for 1900's French society to repopulate after WWI on its head. Watch the dream world collide with the waking as these absurd words come to life!
CAST:
Bill Chessman as Husband: Bill Chessman
Aimee Greenberg as Director/ Stage Directions
Kim Saunders as Tiresias
Karl Wieser as Policeman
Allison Gamlen as the Son
Gigi A Tasse as Presto
Lisa Wang as Lacouf
Alejandra Wahl as the Journalist
Graphic entitled "Float On, Float On" by Vicki Victoria
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Meryn MacDougall is a Bay Area actress, fight choreographer, and director that works in theatre, film, and voice over. She is excited to partner with BAMPFA to bring this surrealist art alive.
