One Rehearses, the Other Doesn't

One Rehearses’ experimental form mirrors Marjorie Annapav's improvisational life, where identity is continually performed. Though a minor figure in American Surrealism, Marjorie may have helped bring important works into U.S. museums—chiefly to the Menil Collection in Houston. The timing is significant: 2024 marks the centennial of the First Surrealist Manifesto. Artist William Copley once claimed he sold his collection of Surrealist art in 1979 (in a record-breaking auction) because Marjorie was "a very expensive woman"; he offered her a payment of $600,000 in exchange for marriage. She stayed three months, then left, keeping the money and taking his rolodex. In One Rehearses, the Other Doesn’t, Marjorie navigates personal histories under the demanding guidance of a performance coach, played by Ann Randolph. Performance becomes a site where self and history intersect, and power is negotiated. Their interplay invites conversations around gender, power, economic exchange, and representation.