Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 23, 2007|Volume 35, Number 22

'Invincible Summer' takes comic
look at national, personal crises

The Yale Repertory Theatre will present Mike Daisey's monologue "Invincible Summer" -- a combination of the storyteller's trademark comedy and his observations on crises both national and personal -- in three performances Thursday-Saturday, March 29-31.

In "Invincible Summer," Daisey relates a painful family rift against a backdrop of social upheaval to tell a story of loss and faith. Performances of the show will take place each night at 8 p.m. at the New Theater, 1156 Chapel St.

The New York Times has described Daisey as "one of the finest solo performers of his generation" and the Seattle Times has said, "Daisey is a brainy, manic hoot, a cross between Noam Chomsky and Jack Black." His monologues include "21 Dog Years," "TRUTH," "Great Men of Genius," "The Ugly American," "Wasting Your Breath," "I Miss the Cold War" and "Monopoly!" These shows have been performed Off-Broadway and throughout the United States and the world. His series "All Stories Are Fiction" is available through Audible.com.

Currently, Daisey is a commentator for National Public Radio's "Day to Day" and a contributor to Wired, Slate and Salon. His writing appears in the anthology "The Best Tech Writing 2006." Daisey's first book, "21 Dog Years: A Cubedweller's Tale," was published by the Free Press, and he is working on a second book, "Great Men of Genius," adapted from his monologues about genius and megalomania in the lives of Bertolt Brecht, P.T. Barnum, Nikola Tesla and L. Ron Hubbard.

Daisey's performances are a collaboration with Jean-Michele Gregory, a New York-based director who works with artists to create works based on autobiographical material. Since 1998, she has served as a collaborator and dramaturg on all of Daisey's monologues, directing productions at the Public Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Cherry Lane Theatre, Intiman Theatre, the Spoleto Festival, ACT Theatre, Performance Space 122, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Portland Center Stage and other venues. She also teaches workshops and courses on the art of extemporaneous solo performance, most recently at Colby College. She has told her own stories with the Moth and Speakeasy, and she is currently at work on a memoir about her family's exodus from Poland to Texas and what it means to forgive.

Tickets for "Invincible Summer" are $25; $15 for students with a valid I.D. Subscribers to the Yale Rep, Yale Cabaret and Summer Cabaret at Yale may purchase tickets for $20. Tickets may be purchased online at www.yalerep.org or by calling (203) 432-1234.

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