Four Breaths: Short Plays by Samuel Beckett, Anais Nin and More
Phoenix Theatre Annex (414 Mason Street San Francisco, CA 94102)
- Full Price:
- $18.00 - $25.00
- Our Price:
- $6.00 - $10.00*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Four Breaths have expired.
The last date listed for Four Breaths was Saturday March 29, 2008 / 8:00pm.
16 Goldstar Member Reviews
Jeffrey Katz
Four very different and interesting plays.Written on Mar 17 2008
I liked the unusual technique in Beckett's "Play." What I first thought as repetitious changed subtly. It reminded me of Steve Reich's music.
Rick Burkhardt's "Conversation Storm" was a very fine look at torture and what drives people to do it. Not as gut wrenching as "Said Saïd" but easier to identify with the characters.
There were almost as many patrons in the audience as actors.
It's a shame they don't get a better audience.
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Steven Wohl
We enjoyed the "black box" theatre - another SF hidden gem! The plays themselves were not particularly interesting. The actors all performed well, but we were mainly glad that the performance wasn't very long.Written on Mar 17 2008
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Julian McCurrach
It was a nice evening in a small venue. You are very much on top of the performance in that the seats are all actually at stage edge. The play was thoughtful and engaging.Written on Apr 28 2008
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Susan F.
I do not know how to tell you just how awful this was and in so many ways. First of all it was advertised as the 'fine line between sex and violence'. Not at all. Very little sex; violence, some, but not in any way related to sex. Secondly, the four plays have nothing in common that I can tell. Thirdly, the final play, though it had its amusing moments had factually false dialogue as it's premise. Why would you construct a play that is patently untrue and then build on it?Written on Mar 10 2008
Lastly, it was so bad I could not move. I felt so sorry for the actors in this set of plays, that my midwestern sensibilities (that I thought I tossed off years ago), came back to haunt me. It was so bad, I felt it would be unsufferably rude to leave early. Which I should have.
The only thing worth watching/listening to the whole evening was a comic rif on complex dinner offerings. Not worth the half price ticket or even the complimentary wine that evening. Fresh hell, indeed.
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More Information About Four Breaths
Description
Sexual politics, economic politics, and the politics of terrorism provide the backdrop for an exploration of the seeds of cruelty that are inherent to intimacy. Ian Walker’s multimedia exploration of Samuel Beckett’s Play is a breathtaking investigation of marital infidelity. Three characters are compelled to tell the story of their affair by a mysterious light, unearthing the simple brutality behind complex fixations of desire. Skillfully adapted from the diaries of Anais Nin, 39/44 reveals her reluctant journey into erotica against the background of war-torn Europe. Haunted by poverty and illusive success in America, Nin enters into a tug-of-war with an unnamed Patron over the nature of sexuality and self. Rick Burkhardt’s Conversation Storm literally took the 2007 San Francisco Fringe Festival by storm. Three friends become embroiled in the discussion of whether torture can ever be justified, circling deeper into brutality. And finally, Out, written by playwright-in-residence Ian Walker, was a 2007 favorite at the Inspirato Theatre Festival in Toronto, Canada. Alone in a cabin without electricity or heat, a couple wrangle over the fine points of sexual politics and the consequences of desire.
About the Ticket Supplier: Second Wind Productions
Second Wind is dedicated to theatre that approaches social and political issues from the human perspective. They embrace the tradition of theater as an instrument of both education and catharsis.