New York Theater: Erik Jensen is making his Broadway debut the same year he suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that almost killed him. The two are not unrelated, as he explains in the interview below.
In “The Collaboration,” a play by Anthony McCarten that’s scheduled to open on December 20 at MTC’s Samuel J Friedman Theater, Jensen portrays Bruno Bischofberger, the Swiss art dealer who brought together Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
3 comments:
What a comeback. Being back on stage so soon after a brain aneurysm feels a bit insane. I’m shocked it took only a month to recover from an event that could have ended his life. And with very little long term symptoms that were made obvious in the article. A bit of short term memory issues I’m sucre did not feel like a small symptom but it definitely sounds like one compared to others such as John Fetterman, who have had more long term symptoms. It was also nice to hear his perspective of the treatment from others received by people who were recovering from stokes. Especially hearing about those who have succeeded and have been able to begin inspiring others. I hope Jenson is able to continue that story.
This is quite a whirlwind of a story. Besides this article being a bit all over the place, I resonated with the concept that everyone goes through things, some just have to go through it more publicly. I didn’t expect the references to John Fetterman, but it really does make sense. We are all human, and to assume that everyone can be at their best 24/7 just because they are in the public eye is absurd. Erik Jensen’s line about wanting to shoot for the highest goals after being near death is death does put this article into perspective a bit. When I first saw the title, I was concerned that people were once again being pressured to work under poor health conditions. But we don’t have the ability to make decisions for others, as we never really know how they’re doing. Just as we do when a crew member isn’t feeling well, we can only encourage others to make the choice that they feel is best.
I feel like the first instinct with something like this where someone has a huge, potentially deadly and life altering incident or health concern, is to judge them for attempting to go back to work so soon. We cannot know what really happened to his body, nor can we ever know exactly how he feels then or now, so it is important to try not to make determinations about what he should or should not be doing and what his body can handle because we simply do not know. This is something we see often, such as is mentioned in the article with John Fetterman, and some people are able to recover and get back to work quickly whereas others may not be able to do that. It is good to hear that he is doing well because we certainly would not want to hear bad news about this attempt to get back to work quickly, so let’s hope he stays well.
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