to the yellow house (La Jolla Playhouse)

SEEN on Nov 30, 2021. Two thumbs up!

 

By Kimber Lee 

Directed by Neel Keller

selected credits (mentioned in podcast):

scenic design by Takeshi Kata

lighting design by Masha Tsimring

projection design by Nicholas Hussong

music composition by Justin Ellington

performers we especially liked: Deidrie Henry, Brooke Ishibashi, Paco Tolson

 

synopsis: February 1886. Vincent van Gogh is broke again. Trailing past-due notices and annoyed innkeepers, he arrives unexpectedly at his brother’s doorstep in Montmartre determined to make another fresh start. Caught in the fiercely competitive Parisian art scene, he drinks too much, falls in love with the wrong woman, argues with everyone – and paints. Night and day he works to translate what he feels onto the canvas, relentlessly chasing a new form of expression that seems to be always around the next corner. But at what point in an endless cycle of failures do faith and persistence become delusion and foolishness? A meditation on love, art and not being popular.