Feed the Herd Theatre Company presents

The Foundation

by Antonio Buero-Vallejo

translated by Marion Peter Holt

November 6th - 23rd, 2002

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The Foundation is a play about the effects of political imprisonment. Seen through the eyes of an aspiring writer and prisoner of war, Thomas. His imagination and severe disillusionment allows him to change his reality - that of being in a bare cell with five other inmates in a nondescript era - into a fanciful world where he is a free man in a research lab with his girlfriend. The guards become vaulted servants in a world of refinement.Ê It is only when the layers of reality become unclouded in Thomas's eyes that the audience truly sees the hopeless world he lives in the setting deteriorates from ornate to decrepit and unadorned. Emblematic of suffering during Franco's Spain, "The Foundation" was originally banned in Spain, as were many plays in the Franco era, and was finally produced in 1974. The only New York production of the English translation was produced in 1989 at Theatre for the New City under the wings of James Houghton. The play itself is drawn from Buero-Vallejo's own experiences during six years of imprisonment during the Spanish Civil War as he was moved around from prison to prison after his own death sentence was revoked. Buero-Vallejo is known for his powerful use of imagery and soundscapes in his political dramas, such as "The Sleep of Reason" and "The Music Window," and best known for his signature "immersion effect" where the audience is swept into a world through theatrical manipulation, usually into the point of view of one of the characters.

Director Brian Snapp says, "It seems it will be particularly striking for an American audience, particularly New Yorkers, who have experienced the sort of disillusionment that post-war experience impends. Perhaps our feelings of safety on our own territory were as illusory as Thomas's foundation."

The Trilogy Theatre (341 W. 44th St, NY, NY)

November 6-23 (Wed.-Sat. at 8pm)

Tickets are $15 ($10 students/seniors)

Reservations: 212.501.2282 .

The cast includes: Emanuel Boccieri, Brian Calandra, Jermaine Chambers, Kevin Kaine, Eric Michael Kochmer, Tom Lee*, Josh Mattes, Dawn Medina, Ian Tabatchnick*