After first premiering in New York more than 50 years ago, Obie Award-winning playwright Richard Foreman’s highly unconventional show Sophia=(Wisdom) Part 3: The Cliffs will make its Australian debut this year at Newtown’s New Theatre.
In partnership with The Patrick Kennedy Phenomenological Theatre, under founding director Patrick Kennedy, the multifaceted play is set to be an archetypal example of Foreman’s uniquely experimental stylised theatre. In line with the acclaimed playwright’s signature style, expect dramatic narrative to be subversively eschewed, as the performance moves between still-life motifs and calls on the audience to interrogate their own understanding of the characters and themes.
Kennedy, who will be the first director to bring this absurdist play alive on an Australian stage, has described Sophia=(Wisdom) Part 3: The Cliffs as “Part dada, part slapstick comedy and part philosophical interrogation into loneliness”.
The British director has directed eight Foreman plays in the past, but this will be his first time directing a Foreman play in Sydney.
"Sydney has such a vibrant arts scene, catering for all types of interests and so it feels a natural home to give audiences here a glimpse into potentially the most radical theatre they will ever witness," Kennedy said.
The man behind the play – avant-garde American playwright Richard Foreman – has created more than 50 plays, receiving 10 Obie awards for his written work, his directing and 'sustained achievement'.
Foreman describes his theatre as “total theatre,” uniting “elements of the performative, auditory and visual arts, philosophy, psychoanalysis and literature”.
On the Australian debut of Sophia=(Wisdom) Part 3: The Cliffs, Foreman has said, “I know that Sophia will be in exceptional hands with Patrick and his company of Australian performers... I wish I could be there in person on opening night."
Sophia=(Wisdom) Part 3: The Cliffs comes to the New Theatre from January 10 until January 27. Tickets cost $35, with concession tickets also available. You can snap tickets up over here.
