Gauguin's Paradise
A live performance with video directed by Fred Curchack
Adapted from the art and writings of Paul Gauguin
Performed by students from the University of Texas at Dallas

The popular myth is that Paul Gauguin left a lucrative career as a
stockbroker and abandoned his wife and five children to pursue his calling as an artist. After a time of painting together, Gauguin deserted his friend Vincent van Gogh, who, that same night, cut off his earlobe and then entered a lunatic asylum. Gauguin left France and lived in Tahiti, where he suffered from syphilis while cavorted with teenage island girls, struggled with poverty, attempted suicide, fought for native rights, painted some of the greatest masterpieces in the history of art, and died in 1903 at age 54.

Gauguin wrote two autobiographical books, numerous essays and letters, and even published his own volatile newspaper. In this hundredth anniversary of his death, Gauguin's Paradise celebrates and confronts the myth of the artist. Using spellbinding theatrical imagination, masks, puppets, and Gauguin's own words and video projections of his art, the work reveals the man behind the myth.

Dallas Morning News article - March 22, 2004

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Director’s Notes
Gauguin's Paradise is adapted from Paul Gauguin's extensive writings. He wrote a fictionalized autobiography, Noa Noa, about his first trip to Tahiti. Shortly before his death, he wrote a memoir, Avant et Aprés (Gauguin's Intimate Journals). He also wrote many letters, essays, and even published a volatile political newspaper during his final years in the Marquesan Islands. In his art and writings, Gauguin created a myth out of his life. Revered as one of the fathers of modern painting, Gauguin was also a profound sculptor, ceramist, an accomplished musician, and fencer.

The popular myth is that Paul Gauguin left a lucrative career as a stockbroker and abandoned his wife and five children to pursue his calling as an artist. After a time of painting together, Gauguin deserted his friend Vincent van Gogh, who, that same night cut off his earlobe and then entered a lunatic asylum. Gauguin left France and lived in Tahiti, where he suffered from an agonizing illness (presumed to be syphilis) while cavorting with teenage island girls, struggled with poverty, attempted suicide, fought for native rights, created some of the greatest masterpieces in the history of art, and died in 1903 at age 54. Morphine, which he took for his pain, was found by his deathbed. Using Gauguin's own words, and some letters of his wife Mette and of van Gogh, Gauguin's Paradise celebrates and confronts the myth of the artist while searching for the man behind the myth.

Gauguin's Paradise is an ensemble work, using the same text and video as Gauguin's Shadow, a solo performance by Fred Curchack. Fred will perform Gauguin's Shadow in Dallas at the Undermain Theatre from April 13 to May 8.

Sources include: Noa Noa; Gauguin's Intimate Journals; Gauguin's Letters from the South Seas; The Letters of Paul Gauguin; Oviri (The Writings of a Savage) edited by Daniel Guérin; Gauguin: A Retrospective edited by Marla Prather and Charles Stuckey; Gauguin by Himself edited by Belinda Thomson.

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Cast
(the actors play many roles while speaking Gauguin's words)

Adrian Cook. . . . . . . . . . Paul Gauguin
Margaret Adams . . . . . . Mette (Gauguin's Wife)
Dan Hinson . . . . . . . . . . Vincent van Gogh
Austin Tindle . . . . . . . . . Young Tahitian Man
Vidya Gopalakrishna . . .Tehura (Gauguin's Tahitian Wife)
Andrea Duarte . . . . . . . . Aline (Gauguin's Daughter)

Ensemble:

Anish Abraham
ReAnn Cornell
Jose Delgado
Marina Delgado
Autumn Hill
Melvin Macklin
Nikki Smith
Jenni Stewart
Langston Theis
Vanhanh To

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Biographies

Fred Curchack (Director) has created over seventy original theatre works, twenty-five of them solos. His performances have been featured at dozens of international theater festivals. He has received the Gold Medal at the International Festival of Solo Theater, the American Theater Wing Award, Critics’ Awards in L.A., S.F., Dallas, Austin, and his work has been in the “Top Ten” of The New York Times and The Dallas Morning News. He has received funding from Creative Capital, The Jim Henson Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, and he is a Guggenheim Fellow. After receiving a drama degree from the High School of Performing Arts in N.Y., and a BA and MA in Theater from Queens College, Curchack studied Indian Kathakali, Japanese Noh, Balinese Topeng, choreography with Alwyn Nikolais, and he trained with Grotowski’s Polish Theater Lab. He is a Professor of Aesthetic Studies at UTD.

Jeff Stover (Technical Director) started his theatre career at Collin County Community College as an actor in 1991. After graduating from UNLV with a B.A. in Theatre Design, Stover returned to Texas and became the Technical Director at UTD. That same year, he was awarded his first Leon Rabin Award presented by the Dallas Theatre League for his work on Journey’s End at the Plano Repertory Theatre (PRT). Stover was also recognized for his outstanding design work in professional theatre with three additional Rabin nominations in outstanding lighting design for Floyd Collins at PRT in 2000-2001, for Sweeney Todd at the WaterTower Theatre in 2001-2002 for which he won the award, and for The Old Settler also at WaterTower in 2002-2003. Stover has received accolades from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, winning an award for Outstanding Lighting Design for his work on A Clockwork Orange (2002) which was also featured in Lighting Dimensions magazine, and a Dallas Theatre Critics Forum Award for his work on The Old Settler.

Winston Stone (Music Director) graduated from the State University of New York with a Bachelor of Music degree in music education and a Masters of Music degree in clarinet performance. He is currently working toward a Doctoral Degree at UTD. Originally from New York City, Winston has performed at Carnegie Recital Hall, Town Hall, Merkin Concert Hall as well as in numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters. Mr. Stone's other credits include principal clarinet in the Brooklyn Opera Society, Cosmopolitan Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Savoyards. Concurrently, Mr. Stone was a solfeggist for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Previous engagements as Music Director include Little Shop of Horrors, Guys and Dolls and Damn Yankees. In addition, for the past 14 years Winston has been music director/composer for the “Dream Collectors.”

Daniel Walkow (Assistant Director) Daniel Asher Wolkow is a Philadelphia native. His recent theater credits include directing "The Dark Nut of the Soul," "10 Minute Love Affair," "10 Minutes" and "Family Affairs." He also served as stage manager for "The Bakkhai" and "The Seagull." His poems have appeared in a wide variety of journals in the last fifteen years. He has been playing music professionally for twelve years and is currently performing in the Dallas area with songwriter Nick Ippoliti. This summer they will be appearing at The Music in the Mountains festival in Stoney Fork, Pa. Dan is a doctoral candidate in Aesthetic Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas and is teaching Literature and Writing at Richland College and Collin County Community College.
Virginia Dudek (Stage Manager) is a Dallas-based writer. She is currently completing a Masters in Humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Adrian L. Cook (Gauguin) is an aspiring artist/scholar and a native of Oklahoma currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Aesthetic Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas and has spent the current academic year presenting numerous conference papers on performance studies, popular culture, and the image of the hero. He has taught Introduction to Theatre at Seminole State College and Collin County Community College. His theatre credits include: seven seasons as fight choreographer and performer for Premier Parks’ Wild West Gunfighters stunt shows, performances as Clive/Kathy in Cloud 9 and Tartaglia in The King Stag, Caliban in Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Tempest, and F. Alexander in last year’s Collin County/UTD production of A Clockwork Orange. Adrian is thrilled to have an opportunity to work with this incredible ensemble and bring to life the work of Paul Gauguin, an artist willing to “dare everything.” Adrian would like to give special thanks to Fred, the company, and especially his wife Cristee for her unfaltering love, support, and encouragement.