Spring Break
Play pays tribute to photo legend
Sean Smith
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design hosted a dramatic reading April 30 of "The Angel and the Fiend," a play about the life of world-renowned photographer Lee Miller.
"The Angel and the Fiend," written by Antony Penrose, focuses on the times of Miller's early adulthood, when she became a respected surrealist photographer in London and Paris. It takes the audience through her time as a U.S. war correspondent and photojournalist during World War II, stationed in Munich and uncovering the atrocities of the concentration camps. The performance continued on to the birth of Lee's children and her dealing with postpartum depression and alcoholism.
The play is an adaptation of Penrose's book, "The Lives of Lee Miller," which was written after his mother's death. The inspiration came from the fact that Penrose did not have the strongest of relationship with his mother, but discovered the amazing feats she went through during her life. Upon returning from World War II, Miller suffered from post-traumatic stress and never shared much about her past. After her death, Penrose was faced with the opportunity to write the life story of his mother, but found that he needed to research. After finding a trunk of Miller's photos and letters, Penrose was in business. He was able to piece together his mother's life through what she was famous for - her photography.
As exhibits began to spring up of Miller's work, Penrose had the opportunity to adapt his book to a live performance.
"Some one had written a major motion picture screen play and there was a festival that wanted to read that as part of an exhibition [of Miller]," Penrose explained. "So when the [motion pictures writers] began to get difficult, I had the chance to write it. So I flew home that night and had the basic outline of the script when I was done. It was all cut and paste from the photos. I had to use every single photograph in the exhibition and I did that, and that made my play. So from that moment on it was on."
"The Angel and the Fiend," written by Antony Penrose, focuses on the times of Miller's early adulthood, when she became a respected surrealist photographer in London and Paris. It takes the audience through her time as a U.S. war correspondent and photojournalist during World War II, stationed in Munich and uncovering the atrocities of the concentration camps. The performance continued on to the birth of Lee's children and her dealing with postpartum depression and alcoholism.
The play is an adaptation of Penrose's book, "The Lives of Lee Miller," which was written after his mother's death. The inspiration came from the fact that Penrose did not have the strongest of relationship with his mother, but discovered the amazing feats she went through during her life. Upon returning from World War II, Miller suffered from post-traumatic stress and never shared much about her past. After her death, Penrose was faced with the opportunity to write the life story of his mother, but found that he needed to research. After finding a trunk of Miller's photos and letters, Penrose was in business. He was able to piece together his mother's life through what she was famous for - her photography.
As exhibits began to spring up of Miller's work, Penrose had the opportunity to adapt his book to a live performance.
"Some one had written a major motion picture screen play and there was a festival that wanted to read that as part of an exhibition [of Miller]," Penrose explained. "So when the [motion pictures writers] began to get difficult, I had the chance to write it. So I flew home that night and had the basic outline of the script when I was done. It was all cut and paste from the photos. I had to use every single photograph in the exhibition and I did that, and that made my play. So from that moment on it was on."
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