Addiction, metatheatricality, and boredom in Jack Gelber’s The Connection

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5965/1414573102412021e0204

Keywords:

American theatre, Jack Gelber, Metatheatre, Off-Broadway

Abstract

This article analyzes Jack Gelber’s The Connection, first produced in 1959, at the Living Theatre, where it became an Off-Broadway cultural phenomenon. By using the play-within-the-play device, it combines the unabashed presentation of a group of heroin addicts’ anticipation for the arrival of their dealer with the dramatizing process of the narcotics users’ routine. Through the study of The Connection’s metatheatrical structure, and its ambiguous defiance of several formal and thematic tendencies seen in the coetaneous American mainstream arts, I argue that its greatest singularity lies in its deliberate effort to bore audiences. 

 

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Author Biography

Esther Marinho Santana, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

Doutorado e Mestrado em Teoria e Crítica Literária pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), com estágio doutoral na City University of New York, onde foi Segal Fellow no Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. Faz parte do conselho científico e é secretária internacional para a América Latina da Edward Albee Society

References

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ATKINSON, Brooks. The Connection: Jack Gelber’s Harrowing Drama About Social Life Amongst the Junkies. New York Times, New York, February 07, 1960. Section 2, Part 1, p. X.

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CALTA, Louis. The Connection: A Play About Junkies. New York Times, New York, July 16, 1959. P. 30.

CARLSON, Marvin. Ten Thousand Nights: Highlights from 50 Years of Theatre-Going. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2017 (Kindle Edition).

GELBER, Jack. The Connection. New York: Grove Press, 1960.

GITLIN, Irving (Producer). “The Nation’s Nightmare” - Narcotics/ Waterfront - A Report Of Crime In America in 1951. New York: CBS Radio, 1952.

HEWES, Howard. Off-Broadway. In: KROENENBERGER, Louis (Edited by). The Best Plays of 1959 – 1960. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1960.

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LUTZ, H. B. Some Words on “The Connection”. The Village Voice, New York, August 05, 1959. P. 09.

Merriam-Webster English Dictionary. Disponível em: < https://www.merriam-webster.com/>. Acesso em: 04. mar. 2021.

PAVIS, Patrice. Dicionário de teatro. Tradução sob a direção de J. Guinsburg e Maria Lúcia Pereira. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2017.

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SOLOSKI, Alexis. Pricks and Kicks in The Connection and The Judgement of Paris. The Village Voice, New York, January 21, 2009. Disponível em: <https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/01/21/pricks-and-kicks-in-the-connection-and-the-judgement-of-paris/>. Acesso em: 04 mar. 2021.

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TALLMER, Jerry. Theatre: The Connection. The Village Voice, New York, July 22, 1959, p. 09.

TYNAN, Kenneth. Preface. In: GELBER, Jack. The Connection. New York: Grove Press, 1960.

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Published

2021-08-14

How to Cite

SANTANA, Esther Marinho. Addiction, metatheatricality, and boredom in Jack Gelber’s The Connection . Urdimento: Revista de Estudos em Artes Cênicas, Florianópolis, v. 2, n. 41, p. 1–29, 2021. DOI: 10.5965/1414573102412021e0204. Disponível em: https://www.periodicos.udesc.br/index.php/urdimento/article/view/19821. Acesso em: 13 may. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 41 (2021): O Teatro Popular Musical e suas multiplicidades | Pedagogia das Artes Cênicas em tempos pandêmicos: Criações online e ensino emergencial remoto

Section

Continuous flow

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