By Sara Bright
In the luminous constellation of cinematic stars, Willem Dafoe occupies a singular, almost feral, space. His screen presence is transfixing, capable of conveying profound humanity one moment and unsettling menace the next. Yet, beneath the layers of celluloid and the global recognition garnered from a career spanning iconic roles from Platoon’s tragic sergeant to the Green Goblin’s cackling villainy, and collaborations with auteurs like Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and Yorgos Lanthimos, lies a deeper, more primal artistic sentience. This core sensibility was forged not in the controlled environment of a film set, but in the crucible of experimental theatre. Creativitys.UK will tell you about Dafoe’s enduring love for the stage, a passion that has led him to his current role as artistic director of the prestigious Venice Biennale’s international theatre festival, a platform he is using to champion the avant-garde and the transformative power of live performance.
A Biennale of Bodies and Poetry
From his home in Rome, the 69-year-old actor, his hair characteristically scrunched as if physically wrestling with his thoughts, articulates a vision for the Biennale that is unapologetically bold. The programme, aptly titled “Theatre is Body. Body is Poetry,” eschews traditional theatrical fare in favour of the experimental. There will be no Shakespeare, a playwright Dafoe admits to having a complex relationship with, citing a tendency towards “pointing and indicating” in many productions, though he cryptically hints at a potential Lear in his “dotage.” Instead, audiences can anticipate works directed by theatrical provocateurs like Thomas Ostermeier and Milo Rau. A particularly intriguing offering is Davide Iodice’s reimagining of Pinocchio, featuring young autistic actors and actors with Down’s syndrome in the titular role, a concept that promises to explore the familiar tale through a profoundly new lens. Dafoe’s selections reflect a commitment to Venice Theatre Biennale experimental works and avant-garde theatre Venice.
The Wooster Group Legacy
Central to Dafoe’s theatrical DNA is his long and formative association with The Wooster Group, the pioneering New York company he co-founded in the late 1970s with his former partner Elizabeth LeCompte and the monologuist Spalding Gray, among others. Emerging from the remnants of Richard Schechner’s Performance Group, The Wooster Group established itself in a converted factory in lower Manhattan, a space that remains its home. For nearly three decades, Dafoe was an integral part of this collective, not just acting but also writing and building sets. This period was crucial in shaping his understanding of Willem Dafoe Wooster Group collaborations and the very nature of performance. He speaks admiringly of the experimental playwright Richard Foreman, a friend whose work “Symphony of Rats” will be staged by The Wooster Group at the Biennale. Foreman, before his death, urged the company to “Do whatever you want with it. But I don’t want to recognise it,” a sentiment of fearless reinvention that clearly resonates with Dafoe. He will also participate in Foreman’s “No Title,” a piece involving the random reading of phrases from cards, a theatrical cousin to the Burroughsian cut-up technique, underscoring a commitment to Richard Foreman plays.
From Milwaukee to Manhattan’s Fringe
Dafoe’s journey into the heart of New York’s fringe theatre scene began when he arrived in the “big, bad city” at 22, fresh from another experimental troupe, Milwaukee’s Theatre X. “I didn’t have anything up my sleeve,” he recalls. “New York was rough then, but I saw these people who were making things outside of any commercial system. They stirred something in me intellectually, emotionally, romantically.” He made himself available, starting with modest roles and carpentry, eventually collaborating with Spalding Gray on the creation of “Point Judith.” Online clips from these early Wooster Group productions, some dating back to the late 1970s, offer tantalising glimpses of a raw, unbridled Dafoe, his theatrical energy prefiguring some of his more “berserk” screen creations, like Bobby Peru in David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart.” One memorable snippet from “Point Judith” features Dafoe, dressed as a nun, standing in the sea brandishing a fish – an image that, while perhaps reductive of decades of work, captures the audacious spirit of New York experimental theatre. His recurring motif of holding dead fish in various productions, including the 1991 show “Today I Must Sincerely Congratulate You,” is met with a characteristic shrug: “I’m in to fish. So there.”
Challenging Theatrical Conventions
The Wooster Group’s methodology was famously fluid; rehearsals often continued throughout the day, with the evening’s performance reflecting whatever stage the piece had reached. This “endless work in progress” philosophy, as a Harper’s article described it, often incorporated film and pre-recorded audio, with actors sometimes lip-syncing. Their material was an eclectic, often jarring, amalgamation of high and low culture – Flaubert alongside Lenny Bruce, or Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” reinterpreted as a soap opera, juxtaposed with the vaudeville skits of African American comic Pigmeat Markham. Acclaim was not always forthcoming. Arthur Miller famously refused permission for the group to use excerpts from “The Crucible,” and the estates of Harold Pinter and Tennessee Williams also withdrew their consent. Critics were often harsh. “We were given a hard time,” Dafoe admits. Eventually, Elizabeth LeCompte, in her “infinite wisdom,” stopped inviting critics, finding word-of-mouth more effective. It was only after gaining appreciation in Europe that New York critics began to reconsider, eventually placing The Wooster Group more generously within the theatrical landscape. The group’s influence on contemporary theatre, from the use of microphones in Ostermeier’s productions to the work of companies like Complicité (whose Simon McBurney is a friend and collaborator), is undeniable. “People came through as interns and then 10 years later they would be Broadway directors,” Dafoe notes, acknowledging the organic spread of their innovative techniques.
The Unyielding Pull of the Stage
Despite a four-time Oscar-nominated film career marked by unforgettable performances – from the Christ in Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” to the tormented lighthouse keeper in Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse,” and even a memorable turn as a pretentious arthouse director in “Mr Bean’s Holiday” (a role McBurney steered him towards) – Dafoe’s heart evidently remains tethered to the theatre. He diplomatically compares the two mediums – “Musicians are musicians – sometimes they play in the studio and sometimes they play live” – but his deepest passion ignites when speaking of the stage. “What you’re seeing isn’t going to happen again at nine o’clock, eleven o’clock. Something beautiful in the theatre stays with you for ever, because it happened to you.” This visceral, immediate connection is what he champions. “Theatre puts your feet to the fire, it puts your finger in the wound. And you can’t beat that.” His appointment to the Venice Biennale is not merely a prestigious role; it is an opportunity to share this fervent belief, to curate an experience that challenges, provokes, and ultimately, affirms the vital, irreplaceable essence of live theatre. His vision for contemporary theatre festivals is one of vitality and dialogue, where “some pieces will sail, some won’t. What’s important is people talking about stuff, feeling that the theatre is alive.” This commitment to the “raw thrill of the stage” ensures that Dafoe, the transfixing screen presence, remains, at his core, a man profoundly shaped by and devoted to the transformative power of theatre.
