Spalding Gray's "A Personal History of the American Theater"

USA 1985, video, col, sound, 26:50 min

realized by:

Skip Blumberg

cast&crew:

camera:

Robert S. Hutchings, Jr

writer:

Spalding Gray

appearance:

Spalding Gray

production:

KTCA-TV, Walker Art Center/Minnesota Public Programming Corporation

available copies:

Electronic Arts Intermix - EAI:

video, sound

available for rent

synopsis: Copyright Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. See the EAI Online Catalogue for further information about this artist and work

Here Blumberg captures the minimalist style of performance artist Spalding Gray, who has refined the art of the autobiographical monologue to a provocative form of cultural critique. Taking his cues from a stack of cards with the names of plays in which he performed throughout the 1960s and '70s, Gray turns each tidbit of information into an inspired anecdote and becomes animated with recollection. In this humorous and enthusiastic rendition of his personal roles in avant-garde theater, Gray presents a microcosm of the relentless and self-conscious experimentation of this period of American theater.

cinovid / oVid / Werkleitz Gesellschaft and the authors © 1996-2009