On Thursday, the story of tormented artist Vincent Van Gogh came to Burlington in a play, “Vincent,” written by renowned actor and writer Leonard Nimoy.
Vincent Van Gogh was a mid-19th century artist known for his impressionist paintings, particularly “Starry Night” and “Sunflowers,” as well as his mental health issues that culminated in cutting off his own ear and delivering it to a prostitute named Rachel.
Van Gogh’s story is told through the eyes of his younger brother Theo, and uses a collection of letters and stories to portray the artist.
James Briggs, who portrays Theo in the show, is the only actor in the play. Briggs has studied both law and theater, recently returning to the stage after working as an attorney in Boston.
“It’s a challenging role because its one person on stage and it’s such an important role,” Briggs said.
While the play features a lonely Theo speaking about his brother, Vincent’s story consists of many famous characters.
Though it is well known that many people in his town hated Van Gogh, he found solace in the company of his peers. Some of these include fellow artists such as Paul Gaugin, whose friendship with Vincent is highly noted in the play, as well as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissaro, Georges Seurat and ??mile Bernard.
Briggs portrays the frequent highs and lows of Vincent’s life through Theo’s myriad of emotions, sometimes softly explaining his brother’s madness and other times shouting passionately into the audience.
Throughout the show, Van Gogh’s paintings are displayed in the order he painted them, helping Theo show his emotional journey to the audience, giving them a sense of who the artist truly was.
Leonard Nimoy not only wrote the play, but originally performed it himself, most notably in the filmed adaption.
Nimoy branched out into the world of theater after his famous role as Spock on the famous television series “Star Trek.” His play “Vincent” would later also inspire him to write an episode on Van Gogh for the television series “In Search Of…”
“I have a responsibility to carry the torch forward for him,” Briggs said. The play, performed in the Main Street Landing Performance Arts Center, will run until Oct. 27.
