New York Fringe Festival: Self Portrait as Schiele

The moody, self-involved and sickly artist Egon Schiele literally comes to life in Mark Lindberg’s Self Portrait as Schiele, premiering in this year’s Fringe Festival.  Set in modern times, the plot revolves around art and an incurable influenza—possibly the same one that killed Schiele in 1918. Mädchen is the heroin, a painter who somehow calls up the ghost of Schiele in a fever-driven sickness and embarks on a strange, dreamlike journey through her own psyche by way of creativity.  At least, it appears to be all in her head. But as more characters get sick, they too see the dead artist and find themselves moving in classic poses from Schiele’s art. Dr. Sonnenschein, played by a vibrant Elizabeth Hess, is a sex therapist that doubles as a mother figure.  In the beginning she is in control of the characters and situations, but like the doctor, as clothes come off and delirium sets in, she ends up more of a child then the delicate Mädchen.  Through most of the play it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s a dream, but it works like well planned sequence in a Chuck Palahniuk novel.   By the end of the performance I felt almost as sick as the characters and not really sure what just happened.

Additional show times are Aug. 19 at 4:45, Aug. 21 at 8, and Aug. 23 at 2:45. The Connelly Theater, 220 East 4th St. (btwn. Avenues A and B), $15.