GREEN MAN by Don Nigro is a re-telling of the medieval poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" set during the American Civil War. It is the story of Gavin, a wounded Union soldier who wanders lost and delirious into an abandoned chapel and soon finds himself caught in a deadly and mysterious game of seduction, transgression and murder. Brad Raimondo and Pageant Wagon Productions will present the play, directed by Mr. Raimondo, at FRIGID New York 2010. FRIGID New York 2010 runs February 24th through March 7th. GREEN MAN will play five performances: Feb 25th at 11pm, Feb 28th at 6:30pm, March 1st at 8pm, March 5th at 6:30pm and March 6th at 2pm. All performances will be at the Red Room, located on the third floor of 85 East 4th Street, between 2nd Avenue & Bowery.
The epic poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" was penned by an unknown poet in the fourteenth century. It recounts the encounter between a knight of King Arthur's court and a peculiar stranger who entangles him in a complicated game in which his virtue as a knight is tested by the powerful and seductive sorceress Morgan Le Fay. The poem owes much to the ancient Celtic legend of the Green Man. A mysterious figure symbolic of the power of nature and the coming of spring, the Green Man is often regarded as a powerful example of how the pagan roots of European Christianity survive to the present day. His image can be seen on many medieval buildings throughout Northern Europe and even on several old churches and other buildings in New York City. A likeness of the Green Man was found on an altar discovered beneath the apse of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Don Nigro's play re-imagines the story from the perspective of the wounded soldier Gavin, who became lost while searching for the man who stole his commander's horses. Awaking from his delirium, Gavin finds himself in the home of an enigmatic man named Robey who seems to know more than he admits about Gavin and the missing horses that brought him into the woods. Tended by three women--Robey's seemingly senile but strangely perceptive mother, his apparently naïve yet brash daughter and his seductive and haunted wife--Gavin comes to understand that he has unwittingly become engaged in a life and death game. But it is only at the game's inevitable and violent conclusion that Gavin begins to truly understand who have been The Players and who have been the pawns.
"What I love about ‘Green Man," says director Brad Raimondo, "is that the audience really sees from Gavin's perspective. He's wounded and delirious and so isn't sure what is reality and what is a fever dream. The audience has that same point of view, because the play jumps from scene to scene and its style is so abstract. Things don't always happen in chronological order and important pieces of information are missing or left ambiguous. The playwright, Don Nigro, is playing a game with the audience in much the same way that Robey and his wife Fay are playing a game with Gavin."
The cast is composed of five actors. Gavin is played by Jared Sampson who was most recently seen in "In Fields Where They Lay" (also directed by Brad Raimondo) in which the New York Times praised his "notable turn" as a reluctant soldier longing for his home and family. Robey is played by Ugo Chukwu, most recently seen giving a "courageous" (Brooklyn Daily Eagle) performance lauded as Darren Lemming in the Heights Players' production of "Take Me Out" ("must-see theater"--The Eagle). Robey's wife Fay is portrayed by Elizabeth Erwin, his daughter Holly by Laura Lee Williams and his mother, Mrs Robey by Elizabeth Romanski. Production design is by Morgan Anne Zipf.
Brad Raimondo (Director) is the director, most recently of The Dreamscape Theatre's critically acclaimed world premiere of "In Fields Where They Lay" by Ricardo Pérez Gonzalez. Mr. Raimondo was praised by the New York Times for his "smart and effective direction" of the production which the paper called "gripping drama" and noted for its "first-rate cast" and "fine example of ensemble acting." Previous directing projects include "The Credeaux Canvas" by Keith Bunin (Dreamscape, 2004) and "Invisible Child" by Elizabeth Barri at the Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival in 2005. He was the lead creator and an ensemble member of Dreamscape's "Burning Cities Project" (FringeNYC 2006) called "a phenomenal tour de force" by the New Theater Corps blog. He is co-founder and Producing Artistic Director of The Dreamscape Theatre and holds a BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU's Steinhardt School of Education. He is also a Teaching Artist with The New Victory Theater and other New York institutions.
Don Nigro (Playwright) is a prolific American playwright, who has penned over 100 dramatic works, from monologues to full-length plays. These works have been performed all over the United States and Canada, as well as in London and Budapest. Nigro has been the James Thurber Writer in Residence at Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio, has twice been a finalist for the National Play Award, and has taught at five different universities.
