Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Turning to itself, The Wooster Group once again methodically reconstructs the past in NAYATT SCHOOL REDUX

• By drediman
• March 19, 2025
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The Wooster Group has long been one of the most visible of the longstanding experimental theater troupes in New York. Based out of the Performing Garage — the company’s well-worn home located in the heart of Soho — The Wooster Group was and continues to be a pioneer in avant-garde multimedia theater, particularly as it relates to the exploration of the liminal territory between past and present (e.g., Early Shaker Spirituals, The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons”). In recent years, the company has turned this obsession unto its own storied history, most recently in last year’s madcap revival of the late Richard Foreman’s 1988 phantasmagorical theatrical fantasia Symphony of Rats.

Now we have Nayatt School Redux, which is based on The Wooster Group’s 1978 production of Nayatt School. That original production starred the distinctive Spalding Gray, who in the show made his first leap into monologue performance (the form for which he became legendary), conveying his initial forays into theater vis-à-vis his L.P. collection of theatrical works — namely a rare recording of T.S. Eliot’s play The Cocktail Party. Indeed, the whole affair currently at The Performance Garage seems as much an homage to the legacy of Spalding Grey and the company itself as it is an attempt at regurgitating the original production. As such, I detected a touch more overt feeling in Elizabeth LeCompte’s meticulous staging (LeCompte also directed the 1978 production) than I typically do in Wooster Group presentations. Make no mistake, however — the company’s trademark deadpan gaze and delivery are still very much in evidence.

In fact, Nayatt School Redux is less of a revival and more of a contemporary response to its 1978 incarnation, which is probably more by necessity than anything else, given that much of the show’s text and staging details have been lost to time. The piece commences with a new monologue from long-time company member Kate Valk, who — accompanied by newly-restored archival video footage of Grey in the European tour of Nayatt School — combines a reflection of her own relationship with The Wooster Group with a documentation of the original production. The production concludes with a methodical restaging of the play’s final scenes — featuring usual suspects Ari Fliakos and Scott Shepherd (a stand-in for Grey) — showcasing the ensemble’s penchant for rigor and discipline.

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NAYATT SCHOOL REDUX
Off-Broadway, Play
The Wooster Group
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 29