"In a recent interview, Hayes highlights the work's expressionist style that explores the psychology, psyches and emotions of the characters. That approach provides a rich, unique opportunity to craft an imaginative, nuanced and liberated-from-literal production, he suggests. Importantly, the play simultaneously grounds itself in hardcore, real-life themes: identity crises, classicism, personal and public safety, intimidating physical power and the ultimate futility of using social or political force in efforts to maintain control."
"He's a laborer on a ship who's physically powerful and runs the engines. He initially thinks he belongs, then finds he's cast out. The play is noted for caste distinctions. A catalytic exchange he has with a woman who's the rich daughter of a steel titan and her perceived judgement of him takes Yank out of his sense of safety."
The Hairy Ape, a 1922 expressionist play, will be staged at Tao House (Sept. 5-14), Danville's Village Theater (Sept. 20-21) and at the New Ross festival in Ireland. Directed by Eric Fraisher Hayes and presented by the Danville-based Eugene O'Neill Foundation at Tao House, the production uses expressionist techniques to probe character psychology while permitting imaginative, non-literal staging. The play anchors those techniques in tangible themes: identity crisis, classism, personal and public safety, intimidating physical power, and the futility of using social or political force to preserve control. The protagonist Yank, a powerful ship laborer, becomes alienated after a rich woman's perceived judgment, launching a desperate odyssey.
Read at www.eastbaytimes.com
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