A Hotel by Any Other Name - Richard Foreman's play "Paradise Hotel" - Review

Art in America, July, 1999 by Raphael Rubinstein

Foreman's ability to pursue these aims for more than three decades--the Ontological-Hysteric Theater was founded in 1968--has a lot to do with the fact that he not only writes but also directs and produces his plays. Mounting new productions once or twice a year at a small theater in New York's East Village, he exercises complete artistic control. (He also keeps ticket prices low and the house full.) While the metaphorical settings and the visual references may change from play to play, Foreman's unyielding nonlinearity and obsessive concerns--the nature of consciousness, sex as power, 20th-century culture--remain constant. Recognizing this sameness, which he likens to the consistency in Francis Bacon's paintings, Foreman admits: "I essentially have one thing I want to say."[4] As the plurality of titles in Hotel Paradise suggests, Foreman's oeuvre may in fact constitute a single mega-play, discontinuous, disturbing but, happily, not illegal.

[1.] Michael Feingold, "An Interview with Richard Foreman," Yale/Theatre, Fall 1975, p. 15.

[2.] Richard Foreman, "Ontological-Hysteric Theater: A Manifesto," Performance, April 1972, p. 66.

[3.] This paragraph draws on Foreman's program notes for Pearls For Pigs (1997).

[4.] Josefina Ayerza and Richard Foreman, "More Hysteria, Please," Lacanian Ink 12, Fall 1997, p. 37.

Richard Foreman's Hotel Paradise debuted at the Ontological Theater, St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery, New York [Jan. 2-Apr. 18]. The play featured Juliana Francis (Julia Jacobson), Tom Pearl (Tommy Tuttle), Jay Smith (Ken Puss Puss), Tony Torn (Tony Turbo) and Gary Wilmes (Giza von Goldenheim). Currently, Hotel Paradise/s touring Europe: Das Theater der Welt, Berlin [June 30-July 4]; Sommerszene, Salzburg [July 8-10]; Kanonhallen, Copenhagen [Sept. 23-26]; Maison des arts, Creteil, Paris [Oct. 1-9]; Triple X Festival, Amsterdam [Oct. 13-16]. Foreman's new play, Bad Boy Nietzsche, opens at the Ontological Theater on Feb. 1, 2000.