WARHOLCAPOTE: A Non-Fiction Invention

In 1978, Andy Warhol and Truman Capote decided to join forces and write a Broadway play. Tape-recorded conversations between the two would be the source material for their artistic experiment. The project was never completed, and the tapes were forgotten until Tony-nominated director Roth unearthed them in 2007. Roth adapted the recordings to create this play, using Warhol’s and Capote’s transcribed words. The conversations expose a warm relationship in which these two 20th-century creative giants gossip and discuss a range of topics, like sex, work, and worries. Their firsthand accounts are a revealing window into everything from Studio 54 to wrinkle bars. The audio is narrated by Roth, who provides stage directions to complete the scenes; he is joined by Dennis Boutsikaris, Dan Butler, and Stephen Spinella (Spinella and Butler starred in the original stage production). This work seems tailor-made for audio, taking the words from the page and creating an intimate atmosphere. Listeners may feel that they are right there with Warhol and Capote.