Absurdism at the New – SOPHIA=(WISDOM) Part 3: The Cliffs
Image: Supplied/ Sophia Wisdom New Theatre Webpage
by ALEX DRISCOLL
SOPHIA=(WISDOM) Part 3: The Cliffs is coming to Newtown’s leading community theatre,
The New, this January and February. An absurdist, existential and boundary-pushing piece
originally performed in 1972, this play will be looking to shock, delight and bemuse its
audiences over its three-week run.
Originally written by experimental theatre practitioner Richard Foreman, the piece made its
debut in New York in 1972.
This will be the first time this piece is performed in Australia and the first time in 20 years
that a Foreman play has been performed in Sydney. The piece was pivotal in the growing
experimental and absurdist theatre scene of the time and has since amassed a cult-
following.
Falling into the capable hands of director Patrick Kennedy (who will be acting as director, set
designer, costumer, lighting expert and prop man), the play follows an artist from Potatoland
called Rhoda, who, in an attempt to reinvigorate her marriage to her husband, Max, creates
numerous absurd, nightmarish and dreamlike circumstances. The story unfolds in a mixture
of slapstick comedy and a Dadaist-inspired narrative.
SOPHIA=(WISDOM) Part 3: The Cliffs will be showing at the New Theatre in Newtown from
January 10-27, and will be the perfect theatrical experience for those looking for something
a little more strange, challenging and cerebral.
Tickets and more information are available here.
