THE GERALD THOMAS COLLECTION

Gerald Thomas Blog

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Gerald Thomas Sievers, best known as simply Gerald Thomas (born July 1, 1954, Rio de Janeiro) is a theatre and opera director and playwright who has spent his life in the United States, England, Brazil and Germany. After graduating as a reader of philosophy at the British Museum Reading Room, Thomas began his life in the theater at Ellen Stewart's La MaMa E.T.C. in New York City. During this period Thomas became an illustrator for the Op-Ed page of the New York Times while conducting workshops at La MaMa E.T.C. where he adapted and directed world premieres of Samuel Beckett's prose and dramatic pieces.

In the early 80s, Thomas began working with Beckett himself in Paris (after a lot of correspondence had been exchanged between them for almost two years), adapting new fiction by the author. Of these, the more notorious were All Strange Away and That Time starring the Living Theatre founder, Julian Beck in his only stage acting role outside of his own company.

In the mid-80s, Thomas became involved with German author Heiner Müller, directing his works in the US and Brazil, and began a long-term partnership with American composer Philip Glass.

In 1985 Thomas formed and established his Dry Opera Company, in São Paulo. It has performed in 15 countries up until 2008 (see list of works below).

In 2009 he wrote a manifesto declaring his "goodbye-to-theater" yet, in 2010, Thomas announced to Stage News that he was to set up his Dry Opera Company in London. Its first production, "Throats," written and directed by Thomas, began performances at the Pleasance Theater in Islington on Feb. 18, 2011.

In 2016, Thomas’s autobiography "Between Two Lines" or "Entre Duas Fileiras", is released by Grupo Editorial Record. The blurb on the back cover is by Oscar Nominee and Golden Globe winner Fernanda Montenegro (and protagonist of Thomas’s "The Flash and Crash Days") writes : "Gerald Thomas exists by virtue of his devastating quality, his inconstancy, his nonconformity, his aggressiveness, his faith laden disbelief, his life affirming death cult; through his clear and powerful incongruence; by laughing and crying like an innocent and somehow ominous child, by loving the neighbor he hates; by being an unexpectedly good, adorable boy and friend; by accepting and forswearing you in seconds; by loving you madly, by cursing you while blessing you; for his devilish, eternal and nonconformist Art is monstrously creative. His Art is unique upon our stages and in our lives. If you have seen or experienced it, it will remain unforgotten."

On November 11, 2017, Gerald Thomas opened his new production “Diluvio” at SESC Anchieta- Consolação, in São Paulo, Brazil, after a three-year absence from the theater. Cast: Maria de Lima, Lisa Giobbi, Julia Wilkins, Ana Gabi, Beatrice Sayd, Isabella Lemos, André Bortolanza, Ronaldo Zero, Wagner Pinto and Dora Leão.

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WHY? a forward

I was very fortunate in my career to have the opportunity to work with director Gerald Thomas. It was very evident to me that his methods and structure were well thought through, as well as based on technical innovation and sublime storytelling. It seemed as though we were following an intricate storyboard when working hour after exciting hour creating characters and subplots which, in this case, my first Tristan from Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”, was an eye-opener in understanding the composer, the Leitmotifs and above all devouring the stage with the help of directorial brilliance. It remains today, one of my most cherished memories. I had often wondered about this person during our first work together, this highly intellectual beast, this driven artist, as to where his motivation and often “not-of-this-earth” theatrical procreation came from. I slowly became acquainted with the painter, the sketcher, the über-doodler and saw the stories in form of stains, coffee, ink and such which he used in his motivations in storytelling. Some of the art was brutal and gut wrenching, hysterical and comical, some downright decadent but with a purpose rather than motivation to shock. I had read international critiques of him as a bad-boy of the stage, as a genius in operating in his milieu, as far too experimental, but I experienced the nurturing and transcendent humanism which served as a guide to my creating. I began to read his works and pour over countless sketches, backdrops, paintings, and unbelievable expressive modern masterpieces that had been a part of his every stage creation. It was such an expansive universe of material in word, paint, and life’s sweat, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed and humbled. This creativity, over 50 years of scratching the surface of every walk of life, is in a collection which has recently been brought to the market. I felt it necessary to at least present a digital gallery before everything was gone to happy owners across the globe, especially as the collection is in New York City and I am situated in central Germany. Enjoy these works, which can also be found in various publishing’s of Gerald Thomas as well.