"Many Loves" by William Carlos Williams at the Lilian Baylis from 13 Nov 02

"Many Loves" by William Carlos Williams at the Lilian Baylis from 13 Nov 02

Sandis Productions presents the UK premiere Many Loves, by William Carlos Williams, at the the Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadlers Wells from 13 to 30 Nov 02.

It is directed by David Sibley & Constantine Sandis, designed by Elly Papageorgakopoulou with lighting by Chris Watts.

Written in 1942 by poet, playwright and physician Dr William Carlos Williams it was first produced by the Living Theatre in New York in 1959. It toured most of Europe the following year to 'the tremendous acclaim of audiences of a thousand and fifteen hundred people', picking up the Grand Prix des nations as well as the Paris Theatre Critics Circle Award along the way.

In the playwright's own words: ( The play is set in a theatre ) The play is made up of three completely unrelated sequences, written in prose - one forming the substance of each act - and a counter plot, in modern verse, which binds them together. The theme of each 'playlet,' and of the counter play is love - of a sort.

In the first sequence, a young man loves an older, married woman. In the second, a young man and a young woman of high school age - comparable to the lovers of romance - are assailed by the girl's father. In the third of these prose playlets, an older man and a younger woman engage in mild intrigue.

In the counter- play, the love is between two men, an elder and another, younger one. Here the dramatic action hinges on the necessity for the younger , who is the author of the three short pieces, to get the older man, his presumptive backer , to finance the production of his play - but without concessions. For the poet - playwright is in love and about to marry his leading lady, a fact which he tries to keep secret from his enamoured backer. The discovery of this love by the backer supplies the climax and catastrophe of the play.