BASIL TWIST

"Nagrin - a multi-media artist before the term was invented" Dorith Deiter, The Villager

A new work created by playwright/painter/choreographer Lee Nagrin and puppeteer/performer Basil Twist.

Exploring the unique realm of dreams, "Behind The Lid" will break away from traditional stagings; the theatre space will expand, open, reveal, while an intimate audience of 18 people per performance will itself travel through this hand made world.

"Behind the Lid" is the story of an older woman in her 70's who is looking back on her life through a dream; within the dream of the performance, the real memories and real dreams of this woman are revealed through the confluence of text, puppetry, music and light. As the audience takes a journey through this woman's life, they will form their own dream, as they experience layer upon layer of her memories, of her life. The woman's life and dreams, as the play reveals, is Lee Nagrin's, the prime creator of the text. Twist creates the puppetry, and performs alongside Nagrin. see www.leenagrin.com

World Premiere in New York is slated for Spring 2007 at The Silver Whale Gallery. Sign up on the mailing list to receive production updates.

Text excerpt from Behind The Lid
An older woman lies on a pallet at the opening of a small stage. She is awake, dreaming, her eyes closed. The first image, the doorway, is a square of light on mist. This door opens to reveal a continuum of shape-shifting landscapes of the inner mind's eye. The inner eye is inhabited by a young boy's spirit, revealed in flashes of his body parts, an arm here, head and shoulders there. The boy, her familiar, illuminates this late stage in her life. The old woman speaks, a Kaleidoscope of memory and dreams comprise her story. Her thoughts move freely through time, mixing fragments of her life story. The landscapes are varied, ever transforming - at first a palm tree, next a steamship, then a bomb...

LEE NAGRIN - Biographical Information
One of this country's first women performance artists, Ms. Nagrin has been a force in the Off-Broadway theatre scene for more than 40 years. As Lee Paton, she produced, directed and/or performed in some twenty Off-Broadway plays between 1950 and 1963. For more than twelve years, Nagrin trained with Metropolitan Opera coach, Kathleen Lawler. Later she began to meld operatic vocal technique with more popular musical forms. Her extensive portfolio of work includes ten years with Meredith Monk's company, The House, with whom she developed and performed a number of new works, touring both nationally and internationally. Her own plays include Stings, Sky Fish, Bird/ Devil, Whorl, Bird/Bear (Obie Award Winner for Best New American Play), Bone Orchard, Dragon's Nest, Angel's Elegy, and The Valley of Iao. She is currently developing a new work Behind The Lid with Basil Twist.

Ms. Nagrin is also a visual artist whose paintings and sculpture have been exhibited at several galleries in New York City. Because of her work in these media, her theatrical work began with a focus on a visual and gestural language and has grown over the years to become equally text-based.