Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Opinionist: <em>Idiot Savant</em>
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 8, 2009
Modified Nov 8, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 7
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 8, 2009
Modified Nov 8, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
He materializes upstage wearing dark skirts, some sort of plastic tube stuffed in his mouth, his hair tied in a spiky pony-tail, a plastic duck in a birdcage hugged to his chest. The classic Chordettes oldie Mr. Sandman is playing, and in a flash we're once again transported to Foremanland, a singular dimension of feverish theatrical provocation, devoid of conventional narrative but rich with humor and deliciously inspired tableaux.
This year, Richard Foreman's surreal solar system revolves around the hypnotic, blistering sun that is Willem Dafoe, who portrays the titular Idiot Savant with signature eccentricity. It should come as no surprise that Dafoe, the inimitable star of screen and avant-garde stage, once again proves himself a perfect instrument for Foreman's idiosyncratic reveries. (Dafoe worked with Foreman in the '80s, and is a founding member of The Wooster Group, a groundbreaking theater collective from which he's currently estranged.)
For the first time in ages, Foreman's yearly incantation is being performed not in the ritualistically-electrified confines of the tiny Ontological-Hysteric Theater at St. Mark's Church, but in one of the Public Theater's capacious rooms. As a result, Idiot Savant lacks some of the highly concentrated intensity that can thrillingly boil over in the intimate Ontological. But what the show lacks in confined combustion, it makes up for in comedy. This is easily the laugh-out-loud funniest Foreman romp in years, and Dafoe is really in his element here.
And despite the change in venue, those familiar with Foreman's aesthetic will recognize the iconic stage design—a Gothic baronial estate eclectically decorated with various curiosities (grandfather clock, feathers, Ensor-esque portraits), divided by taught strings evoking cartoonish dotted lines. Dafoe's tightly-focused yet liberated performance is well-complemented by a supporting ensemble of quintessential Ontological oddballs, who alternately vie for his affection and point arrows at him. As the Idiot Savant, Dafoe is the leathery, daffy center of the swirling fantasia, and declares that he's mainly "interested in the confusion which immediately erases the power of other people." It would be too simplistic to interpret that as Foreman's artistic mission, but to enter his theater is to embrace a delightful disorientation, where everything and nothing happens, and a giant duck with stigmata elicits inexplicable belly laughs.
Tagged
idiot savant
nyc
ontological hysteric
public theater
review
richard foreman
theater
willem dafoe
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .