Two Men Are Dead (1994, 1995), directed by Dolores Wilber, with Clare Dolan, Maggie Hoffman, Ben Redgrave, Eduardo Martinez-Almaral, and Vince Darmody, dealt with moral dilemmas and the search for right action, the rippling and uncontrollable impact of our choices, and the comfort we can only gain from one another.

It derives from some of the stories of the very American writer, William Faulkner, who wrote about the American small town South. He wrote about issues of hypocrisy and judgments by the many of the few, issues of race and sex, of the hatred and oppression that are wrought under the guise of polite well-behaved people. The structure of the performance is a kangaroo court; the text collapses a re-written and highly condensed version of Dry September and A Rose for Emily. Images and staged interactions include the trademark of the American comic team The Three Stooges, the kind of “funny” violence that takes place in American comedy. Props included hundreds of live ladybugs to indicate a lack of control and the inevitable entropy of nature taking over. The audience is addressed as the “judge” who determines who is guilty and what should be done. The piece ends with a wedding of ripped dresses alive with bugs taking place between three people instead of two. Various versions of the performance were presented, including at Randolph Street Gallery and N.A.M.E. Gallery in Chicago.

Photos © Dan Rest