Thursday, October 21, 2010

New play about Tilly Wedekind

(adapted from my article on examiner.com)

Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) is a German playwright best known to fans of Louise Brooks as the author of the Lulu plays, which served as the basis for the actress’s later 1929 silent film, Pandora’s Box.

Frank Wedekind was married to an actress named Tilly. She was a singular personality who appeared alongside her husband in some of his most famous works. Tilly even appeared as Lulu in Pandora’s Box back in 1905. (The black and white image below depicts Tilly as Lulu with Wedekind as Schon in an early staging of Lulu.)

A one woman stage play based on the life of Tilly Wedekind, the playwright’s wife and muse, has recently had its world premiere in Davis, California. This new play is called Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love. It’s by Bella Merlin, and is based on many years research by the author. Merlin is a British-born actress and teacher now based at the University of California, Davis. Like Tilly, Merlin once played Lulu in a staging of Lulu (in London in the 1990s). That’s when Merlin got interested in the actress behind the character.

Tilly was devoted to her husband’s work, and during their marriage he wrote powerful plays fueled by their tempestuous relationship. Frank often insisted that Tilly play the female leads.

This 75 minute play follows Tilly's tumbling thoughts. Beginning with her attempted suicide and travelling backwards in time, it weaves together biography, letters, dramatic incidents, puppets, and original songs; Merlin traces the course of the Wedekinds’ passionate marriage, which ended in Tilly’s Frank’s premature death.

This new work is a production of the Sideshow Physical Theatre Company in collaboration with the University of California, Davis Department of Theatre & Dance. Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love is directed by Miles Anderson, with music by David Roesner. (Sample the song, “Tilly Dances,” at http://www.colorblind-visuals.com/files/tillydances.mp3)

Performances of Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love runs through October 24 at the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis (which is near Sacramento). For more info, check out Bella Merlin’s production blog at http://tillynobody-bellamerlin.blogspot.com/ An information page about the play can also be found at http://mondaviarts.org/events/event.cfm?event_id=933&season=2010


I won't have a chance to see this play. But, I would love to hear from anybody who might.


A postscript to this blog: Tilly Wedekind (1885-1970) lived a long time and even wrote a book, Lulu Die Rolle Meines Lebens, which was published in 1969. It has never been translated from the German. Tilly also appeared in four films, according to IMDb. There is also a book about her called Briefe an Tilly Wedekind, 1930-1955, by Gottfried Benn, which was published in 1986. I have a copy of Tilly's book, but have yet to track down a copy of the Benn book.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Smore pics of LB at the SFPL

Here are a few more snapshots of the Louise Brooks / "Diary of a Lost Girl, from book to film" display at the San Francisco Public Library. This small display can be found on the fourth floor.

As was mentioned in yesterday's blog, I will be speaking about my new "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a Lost Girl in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Public Library on LB's birthday - Sunday, November 14th at 1 pm.

The event is co-sponsored by the Art, Music, and Recreation Center of the SFPL and the Louise Brooks Society. My thanx go out to Gretchen Good, Maureen Russell and the other SFPL librarians who have been so very helpful in setting up this event and these promotional displays.

I hope to see some of you there. If you haven't already gotten a copy of The Diary of a Lost Girl, its available through Lulu.com as well as other online retailers.Yesterday, I spent some time updating the informational pages on the book at www.pandorasbox.com/diary.html There, you can find information about other events as well places where it can be purchased.


Praise for the new edition of THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL

"Gladysz provides an authoritative series of essays that tell us about the author, the notoriety of her work (which was first published in 1905), and its translation to the screen. Production stills, advertisements, and other ephemera illustrate these introductory chapters. In today’s parlance this would be called a 'movie tie-in edition,' but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research — and passion." -- Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy


"Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl - the basis of Miss Brooks's classic 1929 film - back from obscurity. It remains a fascinating work." -- Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives

"Read today, it's a fascinating time-trip back to another age, and yet remains compelling. As a bonus, Gladysz richly illustrates the text with stills of Brooks from the famous film." -- Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"Long relegated to the shadows, Margarete Bohme's 1905 novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl has at last made a triumphant return. In reissuing the rare 1907 English translation of Bohme's German text, Thomas Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Bohme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. He gives us the original novel, his informative introduction, and many beautiful and rare illustrations. This reissue is long overdue, and in all ways it is a volume of uncommon merit."  -- Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Louise Brooks at the San Francisco Public Library

On November 14th, I will be speaking about my new "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a Lost Girl at the San Francisco Public Library. This sensational / controversial / bestselling 1905 book by Margarete Bohme has been out-of-print in the United States for more than 100 years. I brought it back into print and wrote a 20-plus page introduction detailing its remarkable history and relationship to the 1929 G.W. Pabst film starring Louise Brooks. This special event (on LB's birthday) will take place in the Koret auditorium.


Should all go according to plan, I will give a short 10-15 minute talk (with power point presentation) before a screening of the celebrated 1929 film. Copies of my new bookwill also be for sale in the lobby. A booksigning will follow the screening.

I am expecting a good crowd, as I've heard back from many friends & fans and notices have already appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle website, the BookForum website, and on Facebook, Craigslist, Yelp, MySpace and elsewhere. The Koret Auditorium holds 235 people.


The good folks at the SFPL have also been promoting the event. They put up a small exhibit on the fourth floor, and a larger than life portrait of Louise Brooks fill one of the light boxes on that same floor (as pictured above). It's hard to miss and looks lovely. Here are some pictures of the display, which is made up of mostly vintage material from my collection relating to the original book. Do check it out!


I can also report that the SFPL has four copies of The Diary of a Lost Girl in their collection, and each and every one of them are out on loan - and, two of those copies have holds placed on them. Someday, this little book might just prove popular. I have also heard that a local reading group which adopted the book as their November selection will be attending the November 14th event.

I hope to see some of you there. If you haven't already gotten a copy of The Diary of a Lost Girl, its available through Lulu.com as well as other online retailers.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sight & Sound article on Pandora's Box

The current issue of Sight & Sound (the British film magazine) has a long, illustrated article about Pandora's Box (or at least their website does) focusing on Neil Brand's accompaniment of a restored print of the film the other day in London. Check it out at http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/newsandviews/festivals/blog/lff-2010-10-15-pandoras-box.php

Saturday, October 16, 2010

For the record

For the record, this is not an image of Louise Brooks - just a nice-looking contemporary look-alike. This model, namely Mischa Barton, is sometimes mistaken for the silent film star, and this image is being offered on eBay as an image of Louise Brooks. Not.


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Vanity Fair

Reports have it that there is a picture of Louise Brooks on page 106 of the November, 2010 issue of Vanity Fair. I haven't seen it yet. Has anyone ?

Monday, October 11, 2010

Yours for only $7,966.00

A book once owned by Louise Brooks is for sale on eBay. The book, Film Star Portraits of the Fifties, is signed and inscribed by the actress. The book, edited by John Kobal, was published by Dover in 1980. Seemingly, a copy of the book was sent to Brooks by the author. She received it and inscribed it "From Dover and Kobal, 20 Sept 1980." Eight days later, she gave the book to Valerie, and inscribed it once again. The seller is asking $7,966.00.

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