Eternal
Two actors. Two screens. The final scene of a movie played in a continuous loop, this magnificent work delineates the contours of the human heart. A master class in acting.
THE FINAL SCENE
Two actors. Two screens. The final scene of a movie. For two hours, the same scene will play out in a loop, the same lines of dialogue will be shouted, whispered, bursting forth in an explosion of laughter or stifled by sobs. The great New York director Daniel Fish has orchestrated a magnificent piece that charts the contours of the human heart.
Two screens feature close-ups of two extraordinary actors, Christina Rouner and Thomas Jay Ryan. The slightest inflections of their voices, the most subtle grins give a different, unexpected meaning each time to the last words of the cult film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This is an incredible opportunity to admire two great performers as they plunge into the pure pleasure of acting, but for the camera, with an endless force of evocation in portraying the infinite possibilities of this heartbreaking scene of separation. With their looks and their gestures, a passionate and very moving love affair and estrangement unfolds. A master class in performance. An ode to acting that is simple and eternal.
PRODUCED BY DANIEL FISH
CREATED AND DIRECTED BY DANIEL FISH
PERFORMED BY CHRISTINA ROUNER + THOMAS JAY RYAN
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY MICHAEL KOSHKIN
SOUND RECORDIST PATRICK SOUTHERN
COSTUME DESIGN TERESE WADDEN
PROJECTION ANDREW LAZAROW
SOUND MIX DANIEL KLUGER
SCRIPT EXCERPT ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND BY MICHEL GONDRY
PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH FESTIVAL DU NOUVEAU CINÉMA DE MONTRÉAL
WRITTEN BY DIANE JEAN
TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH
PREMIERED AT INCUBATOR ARTS PROJECT, NEW YORK, ON OCTOBER 10, 2013
DANIEL FISH (New York)
Unorthodox
The New York-based director Daniel Fish began his career by directing the classics for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, developing his own distinctive approach to the texts, constantly questioning and paring down to the bare essentials, giving them new life and drawing inspiration from cinema, music and literature. He has taught directing at the Yale School of Drama and at Princeton University.
