The Fever

Fort Point

August 2008

A nameless person from a privileged world, suffering from a sense of disconnection from his (or her) comfortable life, travels to a country in the midst of civil war. Suddenly deliriously ill, the narrator collapses in a hotel bathroom and confronts an internal chorus of conflicting voices: dreams of comfort, images of physical and economic violence, accusations of indifference, and cold-blooded arguments in favor of oppression. The central question: what, if anything, is a morally consistent way to live in the world as it is?

In this rendition of The Fever, under the direction of Ken Rus Schmoll of New York's Quiet Laboratory, actor Doug Lockwood tackles portraying this haunted traveler. Since 2002, Lockwood and Schmoll have staged this eerily timely play in numerous private homes in New York, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They have also maintained the monologue's intimacy while presenting it in larger venues, such as the New Repertory Theatre, Veggie Planet, and the Old South Meeting House. This production was the 48th.

Wallace Shawn is an Obie-winning playwright and a noted stage and screen actor. His play The Designated Mourner was made into a film starring Mike Nichols, Miranda Richardson, and David de Keyser. Mr. Shawn's other plays include My Dinner with André, co-written with André Gregory, and Our Late Night.