The synthesis of Eckert and the Foundry makes complete sense if one understands how the Foundry functions. If there's anything consistent in the company's objectives, it's an obsession with discovery. Foundry plays plunge deeply into their subject, thrash about within it, and emit whatever they discover. They realize on stage one of Joseph's expressed beliefs: "There's no primary way of looking at this moment. It exists simultaneous with so many things, many of which are connected in ways we would never even conceive of." Foundry plays conceive of these connections.
This pathos for discovery finds its place in the Foundry's political events as well. These community get-togethers are designed to provide a forum for the hashing out of ideas. The concept originated in Joseph's feeling that "people are hungry for intelligent investigation of things that are effecting them." While these forums may form "the etymologies of a theatrical piece," Joseph is adamant about the fact that the political Foundry and the theatrical Foundry do not necessarily coincide. Rather, they form opposite sides of the single coin that is Joseph's fascination with "things that engage people's thought."
And that's what's so great about the Foundry. It engages and entertains; it presents theatrical political discussions and political theatrical productions; it goes for the intellectual in order to frolic more richly in the emotional. After attending any Foundry function, one feels challenged and inspired by the complexity of the world.
And God Created Great Whales is appearing at Dance Theatre Workshop's Bessie Schonberg Theatre, and stars writer/composer Rinde Eckert. The piece also features Nora Cole as Nathan's opera-singing muse, and is directed by David Schweizer, who has previously worked with Sam Shepard, Austin Pendelton, and Ann Magnuson, among others. This evening of song, text, dance, and whales promises to be an extraordinary and haunting musical adventure into the multi-faceted psyche of a single-minded artist.
