Jerry Levy's performance of "The Fever" is, like all the best performances, a deeply felt exploration of how to live -- by turns heartbreaking, terrifying, and very funny
                     -Harry Giles, The Forest Café and Theatre, Edinburgh Scotland

Wallace Shawn's text is a beautiful and challenging monologue by a character striving to come to terms with living as a privileged member of an oppressive society. It asks how to cope with being complicit in a system based on violence and exploitation -- and how to struggle against it. The character talks in personal stories, dreams and parables, with narratives as immersive and engaging as they are problematic and thought-provoking.

Overall, it's a text that lends itself very well as a companion piece to "Marx in Soho". Where Zinn's play examines the political differences and commonalities between 19th century Europe and 20th century America, Shawn's play is informed by radical political analysis of contemporary Western life. The understanding of society and struggle found in "Marx in Soho" provides the grounding for Shawn's exploration: if this is what society is, then how do we cope? In a sense, both plays ask question's that the other attempts to answer.

There is a fear that "The Fever" asks a lot of its audiences, and could be difficlt to watch. But Jerry Levy's performance is as warm and human as any I've seen. Even at the text's most violent and challenging heights, his strength of character and force of delivery is such that the audience is always with him. He works hard to keep an audience engaged, and it's worth it -- when performances are folowed by discussion sessions, the level of involvement in the play never fails to be shown to be very deep indeed.

Like "Marx in Soho", "The Fever" is a play to think about, and one which talk about some of the most important things a play can. I can't recommend it enough.

A man, a passion, a commitment: Jerry Levy performs Wallace Shawn’s The Fever
              - Charles La Via,  Chez Toi Cultural Center, Nimes France

Wallace Shawn’s The Fever is a profoundly moving play I had the chance to discover this summer thanks to actor and activist Jerry Levy, who performed it at the unique Chez moi, Chez toi cultural centre in Nîmes in the South of France during his tour of Europe. To thank him once again for all his hard efforts, in bringing this play as well as Howard Zinn’s Marx in Soho to France, I would like to describe some of the feelings this philosophical piece aroused in me.

Something profound lurks within the words of this subtle monologue, during the course of which the unnamed narrator struggles to come to terms with the age-old questions facing humanity now and perhaps until we cease to exist.

What is the meaning of my life here on earth? What can I do to make a difference? What have I done to end up here in this metaphysical conundrum? Do I have a choice? How can I stop my opposing feelings from paralyzing me in the struggle to make sense of my existence and to take action? Why am I feeling so numb today?

Jerry Levy made a stellar performance in Nîmes that left the audience breathless. Performing in English before a predominantly French-speaking audience, he was able to captivate them from start to finish thanks to his incredible energy and commitment to this play that allowed him to transcend the language barrier. Although it is a dense text requiring the audience to engage in serious reflection for nearly two hours, somehow Jerry Levy has the magic touch that makes it all an extremely pleasurable experience.

This play makes us reflect on what is really profound in life, reminding us time and time again that there are no entirely satisfying answers to the questions gnawing at us from within, in our inextricable condition.

I would strongly advise you to go see Jerry Levy perform this existential inquiry that will remind you in a profoundly poetic way that you are not the only being in the universe struggling to make sense of your place in it.