In 1939, the 22-year-old German-Jewish
artist Charlotte Salomon fled Berlin for still unoccupied Vichy
France only to be killed in a death camp four years later.
During her short life, however, Salomon created an impressive
and rarely seen multimedia project, "Life? Or Theater?"
which includes a series of more than 1300 drawings and texts
meant to be accompanied by a soundtrack.
Manhattan-based experimental theater group Polybe + Seats is
bringing Salomon’s "Life? Or Theater" to life in their
new play, "The Charlotte Salomon Project," which plays
in Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Fire Proof through Nov. 19.
The project is divided into three sections meant to capture main
themes in Salomon’s work – childhood, romantic obsession and
life after Berlin.
"We wanted to work on a project that explores the entire
cycle of a woman artist’s life and experience, a person who did
something monumental in a terrible and terrifying climate,"
says Polybe + Seats Artistic Director Jessica Brater.
The show preserves the multidimensional feel of Salomon’s work
by combining a performance installation in a gallery space with
actual performance.
Polybe + Seats presents "The Charlotte Salomon Project:
Life? Or Theater?" at 8 pm, Wednesday through Sunday until
Nov. 19 at Brooklyn Fire Proof, 101 Richardson St. at Leonard
Street in Williamsburg. Tickets are $15. For tickets, visit www.smarttix.com.
For more information, visit www.polybeandseats.org.
