Elevator Repair Service
Encyclopedia
Elevator Repair Service are a New York
-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins
and a group of actors in 1991.
ERS have performed in various New York including Performance Space 122
, The Performing Garage, HERE, The Ontological at St. Mark's Church
, The Flea, The Kitchen
, and Soho Rep. They have also performed elsewhere in the United States
, and in Europe
.
In 2008, the ensemble was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Grants to Artists Award.
During its first 15 years, the company worked "with found texts or improvised, anything that wasn't literature" as director John Collins pointed out in an interview. These pieces included Language Instruction (1994), inspired by Andy Kaufman
and foreign language tapes; Cab Legs (1997), referencing Tennessee Williams
; and Total Fictional Lie (1998), which drew on documentary films as its source material. On composing these early pieces, former ERS co-director Steve Bodow
said, "We like words or movement or sounds that go through a process of several translations. Sometimes it’s literal, from one language to another, sometimes it’s more metaphorical, from one medium to another."
This has changed with the play Gatz, premiered in 2005, the first of a trilogy -although initially not planned as such- of plays based on American novels from the mid to late 1920s. The trilogy consists of the plays Gatz, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928) and The Sun Also Rises (The Select). ERS have adapted these three plays in different ways. For the first play, Gatz, based on the novel The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
(first published 1925), ERS performed every word of the book in a production that lasted over six hours. The second play is based on The Sound and the Fury
by William Faulkner
(first published 1929), and ERS staged a single chapter. For the third play, based on The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway
(first published 1927), ERS created an edited version relying heavily on original dialogues but omitting most of the novel's prose.
Shows from source: For show marked *, also refer to source:
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins
John Collins (theater)
John Collins is an American director and designer of experimental theatre from New York City.A native of Vidalia, Georgia; he and graduated from Yale University in 1991, cum laude....
and a group of actors in 1991.
ERS have performed in various New York including Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
, The Performing Garage, HERE, The Ontological at St. Mark's Church
Ontological-Hysteric Theater
The Ontological-Hysteric Theater was founded in 1968 by Richard Foreman. According to his website, his aim was-Total Theater:According to his website,-Production history:...
, The Flea, The Kitchen
The Kitchen
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
, and Soho Rep. They have also performed elsewhere in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
In 2008, the ensemble was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts , originally known as Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City founded by artists Jasper Johns , John Cage, Elaine de Kooning and others in 1963. FCA offers financial support and recognition to contemporary...
Grants to Artists Award.
During its first 15 years, the company worked "with found texts or improvised, anything that wasn't literature" as director John Collins pointed out in an interview. These pieces included Language Instruction (1994), inspired by Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
and foreign language tapes; Cab Legs (1997), referencing Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
; and Total Fictional Lie (1998), which drew on documentary films as its source material. On composing these early pieces, former ERS co-director Steve Bodow
Steve Bodow
Steve Bodow is co-executive producer and former head writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.He is also a founding member and a past artistic director of the New York theater group Elevator Repair Service, best known for Gatz, its full-text adaptation of The Great Gatsby.Before joining The Daily...
said, "We like words or movement or sounds that go through a process of several translations. Sometimes it’s literal, from one language to another, sometimes it’s more metaphorical, from one medium to another."
This has changed with the play Gatz, premiered in 2005, the first of a trilogy -although initially not planned as such- of plays based on American novels from the mid to late 1920s. The trilogy consists of the plays Gatz, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928) and The Sun Also Rises (The Select). ERS have adapted these three plays in different ways. For the first play, Gatz, based on the novel The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
(first published 1925), ERS performed every word of the book in a production that lasted over six hours. The second play is based on The Sound and the Fury
The Sound and the Fury
The Sound and the Fury is a novel written by the American author William Faulkner. It employs a number of narrative styles, including the technique known as stream of consciousness, pioneered by 20th century European novelists such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. Published in 1929, The Sound and...
by William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
(first published 1929), and ERS staged a single chapter. For the third play, based on The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises is a 1926 novel written by American author Ernest Hemingway about a group of American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bullfights. An early and enduring modernist novel, it received...
by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
(first published 1927), ERS created an edited version relying heavily on original dialogues but omitting most of the novel's prose.
Works
- Mr. Anti-Pyrene, Fire Extinguisher
- Marx Brothers on Horseback Salad
- Spine Check
- Language Instruction: Love Family vs. Andy Kaufman
- McGurk: A Cautionary Tale
- Shut Up I Tell You (I Said Shut Up I Tell You)
- Cab Legs
- Total Fictional Lie
- Highway to Tomorrow
- Room Tone
- Gatz
- No Great Society
- The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928)
- The Sun Also Rises (The Select)*
Shows from source: For show marked *, also refer to source: