1985 marked the first publication of Swimming to Cambodia by Spalding Gray (1941-2004), his masterwork monologue based on his experience in a small acting role in the film The Killing Fields. In 1987 the play was adapted into an acclaimed film of its own directed by Jonathan Demme with a score by Laurie Anderson. After moving to New York from Rhode Island, Gray began his career with Richard Shechner’s troupe, the Performance Group, and in 1975, along with Elizabeth LeCompte, Jim Clayburgh and Ron Vawter, he co-founded the Wooster Group, where he began exploring his personal history in both ensemble work and solo monologues until, in 2004, he took his own life in the New York harbor. Writings from his journals will be published by Knopf in the fall of 2011.
First TCG Editions: 1985, 2005