The Select (The Sun Also Rises)

FringeArts co-commissioned and presented the world premiere of The Select (The Sun Also Rises), based on Ernest Hemingway's novel and created by Elevator Repair Service, a New York-based company internationally renowned for adaptations of well-known novels. Co-commissioners were the Ringling International Arts Festival and Baryshnikov Arts Center. Working in alliance with this renowned company and these respected co-commissioners helped to raise the profile of FringeArts as an important presenter of risk-taking new work.

Elevator Repair Service creates theater from novels by performing the texts as written. Passages of dialogue are spoken exactly as composed by the novelist, while eliminating, as a general rule, "he said" and "she said." Rich sound design and simple yet vivid stagecraft—including a Spanish bullfight ingeniously created with an upended rectangular folding table—allowed The Select's audience to travel to many settings without ever "leaving" the bar that served as the primary set. The Select toured to the Edinburgh International Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival, the New York Theatre Workshop, and other prestigious venues.

Click here to watch a trailer for The Select. Click here to watch a seven-minute sample.