The Left Hand of Darkness (Lifeline Theatre)

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The Left Hand of Darkness was a 1994-95 theatrical adaptation / production of Ursula K. Le Guin's groundbreaking science fiction novel, The Left Hand of Darkness. Directed and adapted by Meryl Friedman, the novel was adapted for production by Lifeline Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, and produced on their "Mainstage".

• director: Meryl Friedman
• adapted: Meryl Friedman
• set design: Rebecca Hamlin
• actors: David Coronao (Genly Ai), Genevieve Ven Johnson (Estraven), Karen Tarjan (Faxe). Elizabeth Laidlaw.
• other: Elaine Dame

Performances

• November 1994 - January 1995, Lifeline Theater, Chicago, Illinois

Reviews, discussions, etc.

• The Chicago Tribune
• The Chicago Sun-Times
• New City

• "In 1994, Lifeline Theater of Chicago made a play out of Ursula Le Guin's science fiction novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, in which all the characters are sex-neutral except when in heat. I sat in the theater, really longing to suspend disbelief. The excellent cast, makeup, and costumes did everything possible to create and maintain the illusion. Yet as each character came on stage, I unwillingly but unerringly "sexed" the actor. This interfered with my experience of the play, but I couldn't help it. I'd read that humans are hard-wired to identify another person's sex before any other quality, but now I'd experienced it first-hand. If we can't help making sex distinctions, no wonder our species is so primed for us/them thinking and its bloody outcomes."