Pumpkin Head Performed by Bill Connington
Pumpkin Head Performed by Bill Connington
At the New York Society Library
Edited and arranged by Robert Friedman
“Pumpkin Head” first appeared in the January 4, 2009 issue of The New Yorker and was later included in the 2010 short story collection Sourland.
In this special Halloween season event, renowned actor, director, and Yale School of Drama lecturer Bill Connington presents the haunting short story “Pumpkin Head” followed by a conversation with the author and a Q&A with the audience.
A disturbing tale of loss and widowhood, “Pumpkin Head” explores “the violence of bereavement” and a “woman floundering about in a world of male force” when she encounters a visitor who both intrigues and repels her.
Mr. Connington is currently appearing in the Netflix series Ripley. In addition, he adapted the Joyce Carol Oates novella Zombie into an award-winning solo show that he performed off-Broadway, and made into a film.
Says Ms. Oates, “Bill Connington is a brilliantly subtle performer who uses all of the skills of the actor—facial expression, body “language,” voice—to present complex characters who reveal themselves to us before they quite understand themselves. He is a compelling presence in this performance piece in which two lonely persons interact in a way unexpected by both of them, with consequences neither is likely to forget. As Bill dramatizes the encounter it comes to seem that what happens next is really just happening now—in the present; it is unfolding before our eyes, and it is inevitable.
In the longer stage piece “Zombie,” which Bill adapted from my novel several years ago, Bill is even more terrifyingly present before us—it is impossible to look away even as we might want to hide our eyes. It has always been a pleasure to work with Bill, if, at times, somewhat emotionally overwhelming!”