O Starry Starry NightAuthor :
Paperback
Published : Tuesday 18 February 2014
Description
Two masterful artists-Gauguin and van Gogh-come alive in a vibrant drama about friendship, art, and madness
Two painters-Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh-are living together in the sleepy town of Arles in 1888. Soon, Gauguin, frustrated by van Goghs refusal to acknowledge his increasingly troubled mind, will depart for Paris. In two years, van Gogh will be dead by his own hand. In the meantime, the friends discuss their craft; they frequent a local café that van Gogh will soon immortalize; they become acquainted with a young prostitute, Lotte, who becomes Gauguins lover; they argue; they paint.
In Derek Walcotts new historical play, O Starry Starry Night, two world-renowned artists come to life as they wrestle both with grand themes-friendship, loyalty, fame-and with more mundane concerns, money primary among them. The scenes Walcott sketches summon several of van Goghs most famous paintings: Sunflowers, The Night Café, The Bedroom at Arles. His manipulation of language-van Goghs eloquent monologues giving way to more abstract speeches-evokes the painters descent into madness. Over the action hangs the threat of violence, of death, which lends the play a potent urgency; for at least one of the characters, time is quickly running out.
O Starry Starry Night is powerfully wrought, and demonstrates once again the sharpness of Walcotts eye: as a painter, as a poet, as a writer, and, above all, as an observer of human follies, foibles, failings, and aspirations.
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