The play for two actors, by an acclaimed French playwright Fabrice Melquiot dwells in a post-mortem dream space inhabited by Pollock (performed by Jim Fletcher) and Krasner (performed by Michelle Stern) who speak directly to the audience, often on mikes, and only occasionally to each other. The facts of their lives are disclosed in no particular order, as the combative couple sort through the Pollock myth. This play might be called “a contemporary tragedy”, but, underlying such a classification is one fundamental inquiry which gives the piece meaning: the question of artistic creation

Co-presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S. and PS21.

ABOUT THE ACTORS
Jim Fletcher (Jackson Pollock)
Jim Fletcher has worked with Richard Maxwell and the New York City Players for over 15 years. This past year he performed in the Wooster Group’s production of A Pink Chair (at Bard College’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and in New York) and in Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty’s Why Why Always at Abrons Arts Center. He has appeared in the films of Kamal Ahmed, Linas Phillips, Zbigniew Bszymek, and Roland Ellis, and in Tony Oursler’s Imponderable.

Michelle Stern (Lee Krasner)
Michelle Stern was co-founder, performer and producer of the NYC-based visual & performance art company, GAle GAtes et al. She has performed with a variety of downtown artists, including The Wooster Group (North Atlantic). As a producer, Michelle produced Yehuda Duenyas’ The Ascent, was Line Producer of “Curran Under Construction,” produced the street installations for Diana Oh’s {my lingerie play}(2018), was Line Producer/Company Manager for Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music in Brooklyn, and Company Manager for the show’s international tour. She produced the technology/live staging of the PSA, Love Has No Labels, winning a 2016 Emmy Award.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Fabrice Melquiot has published about forty plays with L’Arche Editeur. Melquiot has received many awards including two from the Syndicat National de la Critique, France. He has worked closely with director Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota for many years, and continues to collaborate with Demarcy-Mota as current Director of Theatre de la Ville, Paris. In 2008, Melquiot received the Prix Théâtre de l’Académie Française for his entire body of work. His texts have been translated and performed in a dozen languages. Since 2012, he has served as director of Théâtre Am Stram Gram in Geneva, International Center of Creation for Children and Youth.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Paul Desveaux is the Director of the Company l’héliotrope founded in 1997. Desveaux has staged a large repertoire of works by authors including Frank Wedekind, A. Ostrovski, A. Tchekhov, Nathalie Sarraute, and Fabrice Melquiot. He has also directed trans-disciplinary projects such as Philip Glass’ opera Les Enfants Terribles (2007), worked with Ensemble Intercontemporain on the opera Hypermusic Prologue (2009) by Hector Parra, and collaborated with scientist Lisa Randall and filmmaker Santiago Otheguy on Vraie Blonde et autres by Jack Kerouac (2002/2004). Desveaux has developed a regular collaboration with the choreographer Yano Iatridès and the composer Vincent Artaud. In the past two years, he directed Lulu by Frank Wedekind and Le Garçon du dernier rang by Juan Mayorga

The production of Pollock is made possible by funds from FACE Contemporary Theater, a program developed by FACE Foundation and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, with the support of the Florence Gould Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Institut français-Paris, the French Ministry of Culture, and private donors.

Compagnie La Vallée/l’héliotrope is supported by the Ministry of Culture – DRAC Normandie, and ODIA – Région Normandie. www.heliotrope-cie.com.

Special thanks to Peregrine Whittlesey, Literary Agent