Gil Kofman's darkly satirical solo play Leni's Last Lament will make its U.S. premiere later this spring at the newly renovated Paradise Factory. Beginning performances May 26, the production will officially open June 1. The show will run through June 14.
The show previously received a world premiere staging at the Edinburgh Fringe, and a workshop production at United Solo Festival that won Best Script, Best Actress, and Best Director. Directed by Richard Caliban, the work stars Obie Award winner Jodie Markell as propagandist filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, whose work in service of the Nazi regime defined the visual identity of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.
Set in a liminal afterlife, Leni's Last Lament follows Riefenstahl as she attempts to justify and sanitize her actions in order to position herself as a misunderstood victim. Set in Riefenstahl鈥檚 editing room, the piece is a provocative examination of the lies that are propped up to protect great talents who also happen to be evil people.
"While carefully tracing Riefenstahl's trajectory of self-delusion and moral debasement, Leni's Last Lament shows how even talented people can talk themselves out of what's right and moral when there's prizes and awards to be had," notes Kofman. "By doing so, the play insidiously draws the audience into its narcissistic orbit with the scalpel of satire instead of a blunt polemic sledgehammer鈥攁nd holds up a mirror to our own complacency and self-deception.鈥�
Leni's Last Lament features live accordion and violin by Spiff Wiegand, projection and lighting design by Joey Moro, puppet design and construction by Lake Simmons, set and sound design by Richard Caliban, costumes by Richard Caliban and Jodie Markell, and stage management by Meg Rosenberg.
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