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The Connection by Jack Gelber


I just finished reading a play called The Apple.  It was written by Avant Garde playwright Jack Gelber, and it was produced off-Broadway by New York's The Living Theatre, the "in' place for surreal plays in the 1950's and 60's.  I was interested in the work, so I checked it out.

While researching this playwright, I found that he has a previous play that was VERY well received off-Broadway called The Connection.  In fact, this work won the 1959–60 Village Voice Obie Award for Best New Play, Best All-Around Production, and Best Actor.  In addition, it won the 1959–60 Vernon Rice Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Off-Broadway Theatre, and the 1960 Grand Prix for Best Play at the Theatre des Nacions, Paris.  A feature film was produced in 1961 directed by Shirley Clarke, an American experimental filmmaker.

Have any of you other theatre geeks out there ever heard of this play?  Have you seen the movie?  Please comment and tell me if you have, and don't forget to tell me what you think of surreal works like this!

Comments

  1. Mel NievesAugust 21, 2021 at 10:52 PM

    You don't have to be a theatre geek to know this play or any of the experimental theatre pieces created by The Living Theatre, La MaMa or Cafe Chino. You just had to attend a good theatre program with good theatre instructor's that encouraged to go (if you lived in New York) to the Lincoln Center Library of Performing Arts.

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