FALL 2017 - 10th anniversary free run
KNOCK or The Triumph of Medicine
by Jules Romains
Translated and directed by David Valayre
September 8, 9, 10, 16 & 17 at 8:00 p.m.
September 11 & 18 at 3:00 p.m.
The Southside Theater
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco

Jules Romains and Lise Dreyfus
Knock opened in Paris on December 15, 1923. One month earlier, Hitler and the Nazi Party had attempted to take control of Bavaria (the Beer Hall Putsh), and failed. When they occupied Paris, in 1940, the Nazis prohibited the staging of Knock, and Jules Romains had to find refuge on the American continent until the end of the Second World War.
So, yes, Knock is a satire and a caricature of the medical profession as a money-making business, but it is a caricature in the style of George Grosz, biting both the puppets and the puppet master. Doctor Knock, whose character has sometimes been analogized to that of Nosferatu the Vampire, feeds on the fears of a population much too eager to submit. Doctor Knock's putsh succeeded in 1923 -- Hitler's followed ten years later.
R. David Valayre
Healthy people are sick people in denial.
Doctor Knock

Professors of the Paris Medical School, by Adrien Barrère (1904)
CAST & CREW
Translation & Direction
David Valayre
Music
Erik Satie
With
Fabien Ferhani
Karen Sellinger
David Valayre
Vishalini Mona Vimal
Ket Watters
Set
Charles Keen
Lights
Katrina van Winkle
Sound
Jonathan Loo
Production Consultant,
Costume Design & Makeup
Vishalini Mona Vimal
Artistic Collaboration
Edith Gladstone
Alan Badger
A GenerationTheatre Presentation