from: a masque in seven inventions

Critically acclaimed performance artist and theatrical provocateur Connie Beckley premieres her new theatrical piece from: a masque in seven inventions. Beckley, who has received wide critical acclaim for her intriguing performance pieces, returns to the New York stage for a series of eight performances of her novel theater piece, for which she wrote the text, composed the music and designed the set.

Obie Award-winning actor Frederick Neumann portrays a brilliant inventor, Naso, who is tormented by his loss of power and influence. He calls on the memory of his assistant and muse Calliope, sung by Ms. Beckley, to remind him of the ingenuity that now eludes him.

The show is a dialogue of three: an old Inventor, his muse in better days and his unruly inventions. It is “an allegorical story about imagination under duress. The piece was partly inspired by masques of the 17th Century–a type of performance involving music, poetry, masks, and characters that were allegorical,” explains Ms. Beckley. “There are no masks in from, but there is plenty of blindness.”