The Complete lost works of Samuel Beckett as Found in an Envelope (Partially Burned) in a Dustbin in Paris labeled "Never to be Performed.  Never. Ever. EVER! Or I'll Sue!
I'LL SUE FROM THE GRAVE!!!"
Two of Chicago's experimental theatres, Theater Oobleck and the Neo-Futurists, provide the perfect antidote for the theatre-weary on the Fringe - as well as the longest title.
Beckett fans (and foes), and anyone looking for a wicked laugh at the expense of literature will beg to witness the inspired lunacy that is THE COMPLETE LOST WORKS... Chicago's near-legendary Theater Oobleck make their Edinburgh debut alongside the Neo-Futurists (TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND, Fringe First, 2000) with this Fringe NYC Award-winning show.
THE COMPLETE LOST WORKS... is comprised of seven 'recently unearthed' scripts, supposedly penned by the greatest playwright of the 20th century. These discovered works include Beckett's first ever dramatic piece: Happy Happy Bunny Visits Sad Sad Owl, written by seven year old Sam and presented in its original puppet staging, as well as his last effort, Foot Falls Flatly, apparently written posthumously.
The always irreverent, sometimes plagiarising, often libellous Theater Oobleck and the Neo-Futurists have been mainstays of Chicago's experimental theatre scene since 1988. THE COMPLETE LOST WORKS... is directed by John Clancy, multi award winning director of AMERICANA ABSURDUM, CINCINATTI, HORSE COUNTRY and GONER.
In 2002, John Clancy and Guy Masterson presented THE COMPLETE LOST WORKS OF SAMUEL BECKETT at the Edinburgh Festival where it immediately sold out. In March 2003, it opens in London (with HORSE COUNTRY) at the Riverside Studios for 6 weeks closely followed a full UK tour culminating with a presentation The Brighton Festival. In 2004 it will tour to Australasia and Hong Kong - among other destinations.
Reviews:
The Guardian, 6 August 2002
"The fear before the festival was that The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Beckett As Found in an Envelope (Partially Burned) in a Dustbin in Paris Labelled 'Never To Be Performed. Never. Ever. EVER. Or I'll Sue! I'LL SUE FROM THE GRAVE!' would never live up to it's brilliant title, a title that is longer that is longer than some of Beckett's plays. The good news is that it does. Like all theatrical in-jokes, this American spoof could wear rather thin, but sheer wit and bravado carry the 70 minutes. . . I have seldom been so moved the theatre, but that was largely because I fell off my chair laughing. . .this little show is as clever as it is silly and as silly as it is clever. It puts on the spot the literary trustees who act like cultural policemen, and our obsession with dead celebrity writers. Old Sam must be laughing in his grave." (Lyn Gardner)
edinburghguide.com, 4 August 2002
"This is good silly fun. So if you want to find out how Beckett plagiarised Barbara Cartland, and see Michael Flatley's monologue in a galvanised dustbin. . . Get down to the Assembly Rooms." (Jackie Fletcher)
The Herald, 7 August 2002
"Hilarious. . . Everybody's favourite existentialist gets a naughty poke in the ribs in this very funny pastiche of some of the arch-minimalist's finest works. . . In the hands of this three-man troupe, under the direction of John Clancy, such a hilarious homage kicks against the all too rarefied Beckett industry. Somewhere the old boy will be wetting himself with glee." (Neil Cooper)
The List, 8 August 2002
"Respectfully tongue-in-cheek. . . . .Though the humour is accessible for all, Beckett buffs will be extra tickled by the in-jokey absurdism as the performers skillfully manipulate the audience's expectations and frankly, do what they want." (Mererid Williams)
The Independent, 9 August 2002
"The material is accessible enough to ensure that those unfamiliar with his oeuvre will not be drowned in the laughter of Beckett know-alls. . . A treat is his early work, 'Happy Happy Bunny Visits Sad Sad Owl', a puppet show with animals in an existential crisis." (Sarah Barrell)
The Times, 9 August 2002
"The running joke in Theater Oobleck and the Neofuturists' show is that the Beckett estate. . . are trying to stop the proceedings we're watching . They don't succeed, which is great. . . Greg Allen, Ben Schneider and Danny Thompson's main target is Beckett's scattershot scepticism about human endeavour, but they also suggest that the trapped, oppressed, suffering humans aren't always as desolate as they pretend. . . An in-joke? Yes, but a hilariously liberating one." (Benedict Nightingale)
The Stage, 9 August 2002
"Literary allusions abound but knowing your Krapp from your Godot is not the point. Marvel at the playwright's first offering - a fluffy puppet show penned by the nascent seven-year-old genius - and be moved by his last, the posthumously penned Foot Falls Flatly - a wicked masterpiece of minimalism. . . This is such an original comedy that even the late Beckett would not sue - he would be too busy laughing." (Nick Awde)
The Telegraph, 10 August 2002
"It's artfully, hilariously aware of the absurdity of trying to hitch a ride to fame on the coat-tails of one of the 20th century's greatest playwrights. . . The trio. . . each attempt to seize all the glory while simultaneously trying to gloss over the obvious bogusness. . . An acute stroke of satire." (Dominic Cavendish)
Independent on Sunday, 11 August 2002
"The ebullient cheekiness is irresistible. . . Ben Schneider is also outrageously funny in the hitherto unknown pop-rock version of Rockabye. . . One punter literally fell off his seat laughing." (Kate Bassett)
The Observer, 18 August 2002
"Shrewd and scatty, this inventive skit sneers at the author's notoriously protective estate. . ..irresistible for anyone with a bit of a Beckett background." (Susannah Clapp)
Metro, 21 August 2002
"It's definitely case of play it again, Sam. Gloriously silly and cheekily self-important. . . .As the great msn said: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Something these guys need not worry about." (Alan Chadwick)
"The performances are sharp, the wit sharper; it had audiences in screams and tears"
(Village Voice)
WINNER: Fringe NYC Overall Excellence Award. WINNER: Chicago Reader "Critics Choice"
"Howlingly on target!" (New York Times) "Terrific! Irresistible" (Backstage NY)
"Hilarious... Had its audiences screaming with a breathlessness seldom encountered in the theater" (Irish Echo NY)
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Biographies:
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John Clancy
John Clancy was the founding Artistic Director of The Present Company, a leading Off-Off Broadway theatre company. He is also a founding Artistic Director of The New York International Fringe Festival, North America's largest theatre and performance festival. His plays have won The American Shorts Contest, The San Francisco Playwrights Center Dramarama and been short-listed for the Julie Harris Playwrighting Award. Directing credits include Americana Absurdum, winner of a Scotsman Fringe First Award 2000.
He serves on the Advisory Council of The New York Theatre Experience, Inc., the city's pre-eminent advocacy and resource centre for downtown theatre, the Leadership Council of the Alliance for Nonprofit Governance and the Advisory Council of the English Language Theatre Society of Orenburg, Russia. He is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and his writing has been published in Off, Edge, Village Voice and The New York Times.
He was awarded The New York Magazine Award in 1997 for "creativity, enterprise and vision". He lives on the Lower East Side with his wife, Nancy Walsh.
Bill Coelius (performer)
Member of The Neo-Futurists. Founding member of Inverse Theater Co. Founding Member of Kass and Schaeffer Puppet Division. Member of the Mary Clancey Players. Has played many Shakespeare characters who's names end with the letter O. Recently wrote and directed the film, Clowntown.
Ben Schneider
Ben Schneider was trained at the University of Michigan and spent the following ten years working in the Chicago theater, first with New Crime Productions and later with Theater Oobleck. He received much critical acclaim for his portrayal of the murderous Thomas Edison in Oobleck's Necessity. Since relocating to New York, he has appeared in the title role of Orphee at the Ontological and as John Faustus in An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on this his Final Evening. In August 2002, her performed in both Horse Country and The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Beckett... at the Assembly Rooms at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
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Danny Thompson (originator/performer) holds the distinction of being the only person to direct a production of a Beckett play starring a Playboy bunny. True fact. He has created several shows for Chicago's Theater Oobleck (of which he is a founding member) including VAudeVille WaRS, Kierkegaard On The Patio (the Robert Wilson/Philip Glass parody) and Necessity (his historically inaccurate chronicle of Thomas Edison's bloody journey from chain-gang to electric chair). He is probably best known in Europe (particularly to Interpol) as Radu Muttecu, the author of the classic Romanian porno-novella series "Vushmila & Lardinka", including the now infamous V & L #47: The Naughty Girls Go Camping in Moldova.
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Greg Allen (originator) is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Neo-Futurists and creator of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) which he has been writing, directing, and performing damn near every week for the last twelve and a half years - from San Francisco to New York, Aspen to Transylvania. His work as a writer, director, and/or performance artist has been produced at over fifty theatres across the country and abroad and includes fifteen world premiers for the Neo-Futurists. K., his adaptation of Kafka's The Trial, was "the hit of the festival" (Village Voice) for FringeNYC 1997, and won him the Best Director Award there, as well as an After Dark Award for Outstanding New Work in Chicago.
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Theater Oobleck (originating co-producer) at home (though sadly not at Edinburgh) has a "more if you can afford it, free if you're broke" policy on its tickets, and produces all original work without directors. Previous shows include The Slow and Painful Death of Sam Shepherd; When Will the Rats Come to Chew Through Your Anus and, most recently, Antistasia; Pinochet: A Carnival and An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Dr John Faustus on His Final Evening. Although the Oobleck style is hard to define, many of the company have had Brechtian training and claim the influences of both Grotowski and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/1483/
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The Neo-Futurists (originating co-producer) are a collective who create "theater that is a fusion of sport, poetry, and living-newspaper" using real stories to create a world where the stage is a continuation of daily life. Their best known show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind exemplifies this - 30 short, continuously changing plays in 60 minutes with the writers as part of the cast. Other productions include Jeffrey Jones' 70 Scenes of Halloween; K.(an original adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Trial); Connor Kalista and Greg Allen's collaborations Crime & Punishment: A (Mis)guided Environmental Tour With Literary Pretensions, Boxing Joseph Cornwall, Curious Beautiful and Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. www.neofuturists.org
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