With Paradiso, Richard Maxwell completes his triptych inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. The play takes place in the not-too-distant future, describing three great loves: family, country, and god. In an empty space, a car moves forward and the show begins. A robot launches himself into a monotone and futuristic dithyramb while some individuals, slowly, extricate themselves from the vehicle. “By the way, welcome to the show,” says the robot, “because the best part of a play is that it’s where we meet.” A place that allows us to share ideas that otherwise they would only float in the space. Three monologues follow the improbable prologue of the robot, three stories, one of which evokes the death of the director’s mother, beginning as a philosophical abstraction and then reflecting in a very singular narrative the last days of a woman’s life, told by his son in a domestic landscape that is transformed by the absence of the one who once lived there. Performing human sculpture-like pantomimed vignettes, the performers reveal Maxwell’s idea of paradise as a space larger and more vast than life. In his trademark economical way, the leading figure of American experimental theater asks the question, simply but vigorously: what remains when all the efforts were given, when everything was built and the fights are over? What is the life that goes on when human life is finished?
Note: Paradiso was performed at Greene Naftali, NY from Janaury 12 to February 10, 2018 and at the National Dramatic Center Nanterre Amandiers, Nanterre Cedex, France from 2 to 6 October, 2018,
Richard Maxwell, Paradiso, performed at Greene Naftali, New York in 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photo by Sascha van Riel.
Richard Maxwell, Paradiso, performed at Greene Naftali, New York in 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photo by Sascha van Riel.
Richard Maxwell, Paradiso, performed at Greene Naftali, New York in 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photo by Sascha van Riel.
Richard Maxwell, Paradiso, performed at Greene Naftali, New York in 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photo by Sascha van Riel.
Richard Maxwell, Paradiso, performed at Greene Naftali, New York in 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photo by Sascha van Riel.
Written and directed by Richard Maxwell
Cast: Elaine Davis, Jessica Gallucci, Carina Goebelbecker, Charles Reina
Producer: Regina Vorria
Production Design: Sascha van Riel
Costumes: Kaye Voyce
Technical development: Zack Davis et Scott Ponik
Technician: Andrew Maxwell-Parish
Produced by Greene Naftali, NY and New York City Players
