María Irene Fornés' lost work Evelyn Brown (A Diary) will receive a revival at La MaMa. Entirely inspired by a found object, Fornés forewent a plot in favor of creating an intimate portrait of women’s domestic labor and the tenderness of care. The play will run May 19-June 4 with opening night set for May 22 in the Downstairs Theater.
Evelyn Brown (A Diary) was created from the diary of the real life Evelyn Brown. The dance-theatre piece explores the housekeeper's life in 1909 rural New Hampshire, and the physical cost of women’s domestic labor. In turn, the work also considers the surprising possibilities for mental and spiritual escape. It took five years for dramaturg Gwendolyn Alker to recover the long-lost script.
Alker said in a statement, “Reconstructing the script for Evelyn Brown (A Diary) from various script fragments and interviews with cast and crew has been a highlight of my career. It’s the only Fornés play taken completely from a found text and preceded a profound moment of creativity that included The Danube, Mud, and The Conduct of Life.”
Ellen Lauren and Violeta Picayo will perrform the work which will be directed by Alice Reagan. The creative team will also feature Fornés’s long-time scenic and costume designers Donald Eastman and Gabriel Berry who worked on the play's 1980 premiere. Joining them will be lighting designer Christina Watanabe and sound designer Jordan Bernstein. Shannon Sindelar serves as producer.
Evelyn Brown (A Diary) originally premiered at Theater for the New City in April 1980 and featured performances by Margaret Harrington and Aileen Passloff.
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