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Just as Berkoff has adapted Kafka and Poe for the stage, so some people have adapted Berkoff short stories and other works for the stage..
A bit like Shakespeare's villains turned round, a compilation of the women's roles from Berkoff including Decadence, Agamemnon, East, Greek and Sturm und Drang plus the short story From My Point of View. It starred Linda Marlowe, who has worked with Berkoff for many years, and was directed by Josie Lawrence. Berkoff writes about his youth "Lunchtimes, I would go to a coffee bar across the road called SA Tortuga- unbelievably owned by the father of an actress Linda Marlowe, with whom I was to work with in future years" (Steven Berkoff, Diary of a Juvenile Delinquent, page 218, 2010). Linda Marlowe says "In Berkoff's Women, it's such a mixture of different types of women; some of them are absolute horrors and some of them are really vulnerable. The last piece that I do, a short story that he wrote, is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing from a man which is so much in tune with a woman that people can't believe that a man wrote it" (E Borley, Linda Marlowe and Berkoff's Women, BBC Website, 28 Oct 2014, click here). Berkoff says "I wouldn't describe Linda as my muse - but she aids and facilitates. When we were doing Decadence together on stage, sometimes it became too daunting even for me - I went through agonies of nerves. She consistently gave me the praise and energy to fight on. She's my Lady Macbeth - and I mean that as a compliment" (10 Apr 2012, Evening Standard, click here). For the Linda Marlowe website click here.
Three short stories from Gross Intrusion- The Secret of Capitalism, Say a Prayer for me and the then unpublished Hell (it was later included in the paperback version of Gross Intrusion). These were adapted and performed by George Dillon in 1992 including at the Edinburgh Festival. In Free Association Berkoff says "when I recently saw the young and talented George Dillon adapt this for a one-man show I felt the awfulness and pain of it all over again. His performance was a masterpiece of timing and observation, but most of all he let himself go. I was most proud of my written work when I saw him". For the George Dillon website click here.
George Dillon with more Berkoff stories, this time the Tales of an Actor. Dillon performed Graft on a bare stage in black and barefoot. He used subdued music and lighting. Whereas the stories may tip towards sentimentality, Dillon doesn't allow this and his fast pace means the character's success in early youth is contrasted with the frustrations of his later career. The performance was one of the those nominated by the Edinburgh Festival. Graft is made up of:
Dillon played in Berkoff´s Greek and Decadence, then was asked by Berkoff to appear under his direction in Salome. Dillon also directed the world premiere of Berkoff's Sink the Belgrano!. From my Point of View Emma Nicholson adapted Berkoff's short story From
My Point Of View for the Kwasuka Cutting Edge Theatre in
South Africa in Sept 2007. The actors were Clare
Mortimer and Darren King. A review says
"The stark stage is shared by Clare Mortimer and
Darren King, who both put in strong performances in this
brief and blunt 50- minute piece. Mortimer is
fantastic as a woman searching for someone to come home
to. This promiscuous character trawls the left-overs at
dance halls and dark hallways and yet still remains
loveable through her honest narration. Throughout
the show we watch as she is man-handled and treated as an
object; even when she first appears on stage she is
carried on as a doll-like figure and dressed in the
appropriate female paraphernalia. Yet there is something
poignant about her openness and optimism in a world that
is so deceptively desolate...
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Berkoff´s Women
Hell
Graft Tales of an Actor
