The Waste Land

In 2017 a director colleague of mine from the Todo con Nada days on Ludlow Street, Daniel McKleinfeld, reached out to me to gauge my interest in being part of a movement theatre adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s towering Modernist poem “The Waste Land.” I jumped at the chance to work with him again. He had directed me years earlier in the play Uncle Alton at Nada’s Piano Store space, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. 

Since those days he had developed a quite sophisticated video art practice. The piece would be staged in the former living room of one of the abandoned officer’s houses on Governor’s Island. The island had been for many years a US military base, but now those structures would be given over to artist residencies. Daniel created an intricate installation that incorporated the existing structural environment of the building along with lots of cabling and, of course, video projection. The incredibly talented Stacia French joined us, and we co-developed the physical score for the piece. 

Eliot is a head trip, and I think we did his work justice. I just wish we had been able to perform it for more than one day, but leaving the equipment overnight on the island was not an option. It was one of those magical, ephemeral artistic moments.

Text: T.S. Eliot

Direction and video installation design: Daniel McKleinfeld

Musical sound score: Amos Fisher

Performers: Tim Cusack

Stacia French