"Strange and Imponderable:" The Wooster Group and Vieux Carre

Abstract

During a six month internship (from May to November 2009) with the experimental theatre company the Wooster Group, I documented the rehearsal process of their latest piece based on Tennessee Williams's Vieux Carr . In this thesis I provide, after a brief survey of the performance history and theory surrounding the company's oeuvre, an inside look into the group's new performance centered around Vieux Carr , and show how they use sub-texts, such as Andy Warhol's cinematic trilogy, Flesh, Trash, and Heat, along with work from postmodern video artist Ryan Trecartin, to demonstrate how the Wooster Group brings three qualities to their performance: precision, teeth, and the imponderable. Simply put, the Wooster Group is one of the most formative experimental companies in American theatre, whose unique process strives to invite audiences to strange and new experiences every performance, whether it be based on Gertrude Stein, Eugene O'Neil, or Arthur Miller. Williams's Vieux Carr is no exception.