Spalding Grays America

Spalding Gray's (1941-2004) career in the theatre spanned one of the most dynamic periods of American history and culture. From the 1960s and into the 21st century, Gray took the stage and mesmerized his audiences with twisted and often hilarious tales about life in America and abroad. Spalding Gray's America traces Gray's life from his work with the famous Performance and Wooster Groups to his career as a storyteller famously presenting captivating monologues in his signature plaid shirt while sitting behind a desk on an otherwise bare stage. His monologues include Sex and Death to the Age 14, Swimming to Cambodia, Gray's Anatomy, Monster in a Box, It's a Slippery Slope, and Morning, Noon and Night. Successful as these monologues were on the stage, many of them have also been converted to feature films, including Swimming to Cambodia, directed by Jonathan Demme, and Gray's Anatomy, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Gray's stories provide a quirky, full-color portrait of America in the last half of what has been famously labeled the American century. They are poignant, touching, and often troubling, but they're also vividly insightful and invariably funny. Spalding Gray's America captures the essence of Spalding Gray's theatre and storytelling. And it reveals Gray's deep but conflicted passion for the homeland that gave him the opportunity to be a true American original.

Spalding Gray's America traces Gray's life and work from his days with the Performance and Wooster Groups to his career as a storyteller who presented captivating monologues - including Swimming to Cambodia, Gray's Anatomy, and Monster in a Box - while sitting behind a desk on an otherwise bare stage. Gray's stories make up a quirky, full-color portrait of America. They are poignant, touching, and often troubling, but also vividly insightful and invariably funny. Spalding Gray's America captures the essence of Spalding Gray's theatre and storytelling, revealing the deep but conflicted passion behind his work.

Spalding Gray's career in the theater spanned one of the most dynamic periods of American history and culture. This work traces Gray's life from his work with the famous Performance and Wooster Groups to his career as a storyteller.