LOVE, GENIUS & A WALK

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“Love, Genius and a Walk” is coming from New York to London, touring pub theaters beginning in July. 

Directed by Holly Payne-Strange and produced with support from The Aldo Tambellini Art Foundation. 

Written by the award winning author and playwright Gay Walley.

Love Genius and A Walk - The Drayton Arms - Sun 7 October 2018, 5:00PM 

Love Genius and A Walk - The Drayton Arms - Monday 8 October 2018, 7:30PM 

Love Genius and A Walk - The Drayton Arms - Fri 12 October 2018, 7:00PM  

Love Genius and A Walk - The Drayton Arms - Sat 13 October 2018, 7:00PM 

Love Genius and A Walk - The Drayton Arms - Sun 14 October 2018, 2:00PM  B

Love Genius and A Walk - Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre - Thu 26 Jul 2018, 7:00PM 

Love Genius and A Walk - Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre - Fri 27 Jul 2018, 7:00PM 

Love Genius and A Walk - Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatr - Sat 28 Jul 2018, 7:00PM 

Love Genius and A Walk - Rosemary Branch Theatre London  - Sun 29 Jul 2018, 2:30PM 

Love Genius and A Walk - Rosemary Branch Theatre London  - Mon 30 Jul 2018, 7:00PM  

Written by Gay Walley
Directed by Holly Payne-Strange 

Produced by Bringing Up The House with support from the Aldo Tambellini Art Foundation

LOVE, GENIUS AND A WALK is a play that explores the themes of art and marriage.  Gustav Mahler is a great artist, dedicated to his work, and wants his wife as a muse. His wife has an affair with Walter Gropius. In despair, Mahler goes to see Freud (this is 1910) and they discuss how we all need love and yet how we can sabotage it at the same time. And both men know well how the responsibilities of genius weigh. Contiguously, the play has a modern couple, a Wall Streeter and his artist wife who is writing about Mahler, and the modern couple mirror Alma and Mahler with different but similar dynamics.  We learn a bit about Alma Mahler’s legendary allure for men, as well as a bit about music!  All of it is quick and full of fun, as the characters get caught in quagmires that are familiar to us all.  It’s a play about the twists and turns of love, and of course genius!  It was nominated for 6 prizes, including best play, at the Midtown Festival in New York and was reviewed as “remarkable” and “stellar.”   

“One of the great mysteries that has haunted the annals of music history for more than a century is what was discussed during the extraordinary meeting between two of the greatest geniuses of modern times, Gustav Mahler and Sigmund Freud. On the 26th of August, 1910, they spent more than four hours in conversation while strolling through the city of Leiden in Holland. Mahler sought Freud’s advice about a marital problem that deeply tormented him. Freud helped Mahler discover some inner truths that, during the short time that remained to him,helped him to remove the dark clouds cast over his marriage. But neither Freud nor Mahler revealed much of what must have been a substantial conversation. Just imagine, two great personages, one a famous conductor and composer, the other one of the greatest scientists of his time, engrossed in lengthy conversation!  What did they talk about? How did they react to each other? We will never know the precise answers to these questions; yet the little we do know, mixed with intelligently wrought imagination, is the stuff of which theater is made.In 2010, as part of its celebration of the centennial of Gustav Mahler’s birth, the Gustav Mahler Society of New York commissioned Gay Walley to write a play about what might have taken place during this extraordinary meeting of geniuses. With exceptional skill and intelligence Ms. Walley uses the scant material available and then goes far beyond the imagined conversation. In addition, she conjures up a parallel world in which a modern couple face what seems like an irreconcilable difference between them regarding the importance of art in their lives. The convergent contrast between the two couples, one all-too-real, the other purely fictional, is a brilliant device through which to convey an important message about the significance of art in our world.

“Love, Genius and a Walk” cleverly ties together a historical drama with a modern scenario that focuses on a major dilemma in which art seems to have lost its significance in and to our troubled world. We are proud to have played a role in helping to bring this brilliant theatrical work to life.”