EXCLUSIVE:Willem Dafoewarns about the U.S. governments interference in the arts.
He adds: We can develop our sense of compassion and responsibility socially, leave that to the people.
Watch on Deadline
Well, theres many, he muses.
Willem Dafoe and Elizabeth Le CompteCourtesy Venice Biennale/Getty
And its not just about bad theater.
I cant imagineDonald Trumpprogramming a good series of performances at the Kennedy Center.
I dont want to go down a rabbit hole here.
Elizabeth LeCompte
I dont want to get you into trouble, I tell him.
He waves that away.
I dont mind trouble, he responds.
Theater is Dafoes first love, and for him, all the worlds a stage.
So its a real gift.
The following night, June 1, LeCompte will receive the festivals Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement.
Foreman got in touch with Dafoe when he was not well, he was in a wheelchair.
But he wanted to do a recording of some writing that he had done.
The piece is basically a text without particular direction or without particular character.
And its interesting to see how that happens.
So its a living experiment.
Its an interesting exercise in language and conversation and psychology… Its very rich, its very simple.
Theres nothing but this game, he says.
Theater is vital to Dafoe, and a lifeblood for society.
I think its important as a place to come together and see where were at and what could happen.
Dafoes program will look back over the past 50 years that has shaped theatre at the Biennale.
They will be in Venice with their most recent work,Le nuvole di Amleto.
Richards will present the European premiere ofInannathrough his new company Theatre no Theatre.
And theyre beautiful spaces, and now theyve been converted into beautiful places for people to congregate and perform.
Between them, its two cast members play 23 characters.
Lardi plays a war photographer who travels to conflict areas around the world blithely seeking images of dread.
Her views change when she is subjected to violence herself.
Lardi will receive the Silver Lion trophy at a ceremony at the festival on June 14.
There are many other theatre folk participating in performances, lectures, workshops, exhibitions and video installations.
There are no Brits on your list, I say.
The birthplace of Shakespeare and everything, whats going on?
When he sees the inconsolable look on my face, he smiles.
My dear, he tells me, I asked, its on them, maybe next year.
And he plans to commission new works to be performed.
Dafoe will play Colonel John Hunt, the head of the Expedition.
And we will be training and well be climbing some mountains.
Itll be an adventure, he says.
Dafoe says the film has a beautiful script by Luke Davies, who wrote the Oscar-nominated movieLion.
