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Willem Dafoe on His First Venice Biennale Theater Program, With Whirling Dervishes and a Homage to Avant-Garde Icon Richard Foreman (That He Will Perform Himself)
Willem Dafoe on his Venice Biennale International Theatre Festival with whirling dervishes and his homage to avant-garde icon Richard Foreman.
The lineup assembled by Dafoe for the fest – which runs through June 15 – stems from his own experiences and influences, and ranges from a Whose Who of big experimental theatre names such as the Odin Teatret, Italy’s Romeo Castellucci, Germany’s Thomas Ostermeier, and Switzerland’s Milo Rau, to emerging talents like Afro-Belgian multidisciplinary artist Princess Bangura who will present two solo shows: “Oedipus Monologue” and “Great Apes of the West Coast.” Dafoe speaks to Variety from Venice about assembling his lineup and deciding to personally participate with a homage to late great New York experimental theater guru Richard Foreman, who died in January. On a random note, talk to me about your choice to include the Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble, the whirling dervishes, in the program
Or read this on Variety