Van Gogh in Japan
by R. L. Lane
2003-2004 Season

Artistic Director Mary C. Huntington announced today that The Nora Theatre Company will present the World Premiere of VAN GOGH IN JAPAN by R.L. Lane. “We’re thrilled to be working with Larry on his magnificent play. This is a big project for us in terms of the sweep of the material, the large cast, and the play’s newness. We are very excited.”

The play, written by the founder and first Artistic Director of New Repertory Theater, R.L.(Larry) Lane, has been developed in workshops at Shakespeare & Company, the Lark Theater in NYC, and The Nora Theatre Company.

In February 1886, Vincent van Gogh arrived in Paris, sick and destitute, and threw himself on the mercy of his brother. Increasingly unstable, he began to imagine relief in the vision of an idealized, mythic Japan. His health declined. His reason deteriorated. He lived in the grip of his “Japan” – and created virtually all the work for which he is known.

Larry Lane directs a mix of veteran Nora actors and actors new to the company, including Steven Barkhimer, Robert Bonotto, Seth Compton, Faith Justice, Seth Kanor, Michaela Lipsey, Joe Pacheco, Scott Severance, and Mara Sidmore, in this vibrant work about an artist who, by staying true to his calling and against great odds, created some of the most glorious masterpieces the world has ever known. “The character of Van Gogh is striving for Japan, a place he believes is more colorful and alive than what he sees as dull, industrial Western society. Japan is his delusion, his paradise, and ultimately, leads to his death,” says Lane.

Set design is by Elliot Norton and IRNE Award-winner Susan Zeeman Rogers. Costume design is by Jacqueline Dalley, who designed The Nora’s productions of Stop Kiss and most recently, Dublin Carol. Lighting design is by Scott Pinkney, whose most recent work at The Nora Full Gallop, The Unexpected Man, and Smelling a Rat. Sound designer Dewey Dellay returns to The Nora after designing sound for Full Gallop and Betrayal.

For this production The Nora has initiated an annual Access Apprenticeship that will provide training to a theatre artist with a disability. This apprenticeship is made possible through The Nora’s participation in the Access Collaborative, a major arts accessibility project managed by Cultural Access Consortium and funded in part by the Boston Foundation. The Nora’s first access apprentice, Deaf/Hard of Hearing actor/playwright, Elbert Joseph, will be involved in the process of mounting Van Gogh in Japan, gaining hands on training to further his development as a theatre artist.