Tender Napalm
TENDER NAPALM
BY PHILIP RIDLEY | HERE ARTS CENTER
A young man and woman meet at a party. They are drawn to each other. They have sex. They fall in love. Then something happens. Their fantasies take charge: tales of golden shores, snakes, serpents, unicorns, kings, queens and blood. Dangerously and absolutely, they're thrust into the secret places of love and desire. Phillip Ridley's extraordinary new play confidently traverses the delicate and the brutal, mapping the journey from first attraction to consuming devotion. It's a sweaty portrait of passion and destruction, an examination of how love can leave you shipwrecked, deep-burning and unquenchable.
With approval from Ridley, Director David Norwood reimagines the critically acclaimed play in the East Coast and with an African-American cast, making this production a uniquely American version of Ridley’s poetic two-hander. Tender Napalm premiered at the Southwark Playhouse in London in 2011, subsequently premiering in NYC in 2012 to critical acclaim.
This new production, played at HERE Arts Center from July 19 - August 4, 2019 in a production in association with Ayana Parker Morrison.
Direction, movement and design by David Norwood, lighting design by Stacey Derosier, original music & sound design by Brian Morales, and casting by Eisenberg/Beans Casting.
Photography: Jo Chiang