A story by French novelist Gustave Flaubert is the inspiration behind A Simple Heart, the latest offering from Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company. The dance-theatre piece is directed by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar , with choreography by Parson. Heart will begin previews March 30, open April 8 and continue through April 25.
A Simple Heart is the third production of new CSC artistic director Barry Edelstein's first season and is a bit of a departure for the theatre, which usually presents classic plays and almost never showcases dance based pieces. A Simple Heart began life in the summer of 1997 at The Yard, a dance colony in Martha's Vineyard. It later premiered at the Gift Festival in Tblisi, Georgia, and then played at New York's Dance Theater Workshop in the fall of 1997.
The CSC production will include new music and a new cast, featuring Tymberly Canale, Stacy Dawson, Molly Hickok, Cynthia Hopkins and David Neumann.
Flaubert is the author behind such classics as "Madame Bovary." A Simple Heart tells of a French servant-girl and her affections for her family and her pet parrot.
Big Dance Theatre was founded in 1990, by Parson and Lazar. The two investigate the connections between the two title mediums, with work presented in a variety of places, including: Dance Theatre Workshop, CSC (Don Juan Comes Back From the War), the Ontological Theatre, Lincoln Center, and the EXIT and VIA Festivals in France. BDT recently premiered Mac Wellman's latest, Girl Gone at The Bat Theatre Company, with the show transferring to The Kitchen in February 1999. Along with his work with Parson, Lazar is an associate member of the Wooster Group, appearing in that troupe's Brace Up! and The Hairy Ape. He is currently performing in Richard Maxwell's Cowboys and Indians at Soho Rep.
The CSC season began with Waiting for Godot, starring Christopher Lloyd and John Turturro and continued with the recent modern adaptation of Moliere's The Misanthrope, starring Uma Thurman in her stage debut.
Call (212) 677-4210 for more information on A Simple Heart.
-- By Robert Simonson and Sean McGrath
