Despite a unique output, American playwright and director Richard Foreman is virtually unknown in Britain. After a conventional training at Yale University, Foreman became involved in avant-garde work, forming his own company, Ontological-Hysteric Theater, in 1968. In one way or another, all of his plays express a sense of the ‘continuous present’ and are intended to disrupt an audience’s
... [Show full abstract] habitual ways of perceiving. Although his texts are published with detailed stage descriptions and directions, Foreman insists that new interpreters should pursue their own, different realizations. In rehearsals of his own work, Foreman exercises total control, designing the sets, operating the lights, and marshalling the actors. It is a lengthy process and there will usually be many significant changes before the work is seen by the public.