Edward E. Kramer

Brooklyn, New York

AuthorFilmmakerEditorStory AnalystPhotographer (Still)Development CoordinatorProducerScreenwriter

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Life Experience

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Photos

**Robin Williams: A Spark of Light and Madness**

The last time I saw Robin Williams marked his first Broadway role in more than two decades; the Juilliard-trained actor cast as the sardonic tiger-narrator of Rajiv Joseph's Pulitzer-nominated play, *Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo*. Man and beast, both trying to survive in Iraq, following the fall of Saddam Hussein. One of Williams' more subdued roles, it resonated equally disturbing, provocative and unforgettable. War served as the backdrop, rather than context.

*"Cruelty echoes all around me, even in this ruined garden,” the tiger confided.*

Uncaged on Richard Rodgers Theatre stage, Williams quickly evolved into the play's pivotal role -- the darkly comedic, passionately pathotic, philosophy-quoting tiger who crossed paths of two American marines and an Iraqi gardener searching for a golden toilet seat and matching gun. Williams sported a thick, white beard; his hair an unkempt, tattered mane. No costume required.

*"It’s alarming, this life after death,” explains the tiger. “The fact is, tigers are atheists. All of us. Unabashed. Heaven and hell? Those are just metaphorical constructs that represent ‘hungry’ and ‘not hungry.’ Which is to say, why am I still kicking around?”*

A decade after his recovery from heart bypass surgery, and half that from the Betty Ford Center, Williams role spoke possibly more of the performer himself, rather than the play's malaised feline. His kinetic slapstick performed in voice and gesture -- blows equally landing just the same. Both play and tiger asked more questions than answered; human nature in peril conveyed.

*"You go your whole life never knowing how you look, and then you die, and you get this quick glimpse of how you look, to those around you, to the world." The tiger paused. "It’s never what you thought. And then it’s over.”*

Williams pitched lines perfectly, almost as if ad lib. In hind sight, they communicated so much more. Cloaked in despair and death, characters returned onstage, one by one, as ghosts; a continuation of the journey which they have seemingly little control. Even in afterlife, they still searched for answers.

*"I hear so much, you know? The plants, the wind, the animal sounds of the city. The hollow echoes of this gun. It’s either God’s lunatic voice, or His silence. Whichever it is... It makes you wonder what’s going on on the other side of the cage.”*

After the show, I thanked Williams personally. I told him honestly, it was a brilliant performance I'd never forget. He smiled and posed for a picture; the one I've shared with you above. Robin Williams inspired so many while he was here. He once said, "You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." *Through all those he touched, the spark lives on....*

***-- Edward E. Kramer***

***Sandman: Book of Dreams***
*Neil Gaiman and Ed Kramer, Editors*
Harper Collins / DC Publishing, NY

Videos

"Crowded After Hours" - A Video Introduction

"Early Retirement" - An Audio Dramatic Short

Achievements

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Awards

Libertarian Futurist Society's Prometheus Special Award for Free Space
(1997)

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Credits

The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway (2015 - 2017)
Series by NBC Universal / Oxygen Network (Crime, Documentary and Reality-TV) Developer and Producer Creator and developer of the six-part series, "The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway" for NBC Universal's newly re-branded Oxygen Crime Network. This landmark series featured Dave Holloway and Private Investigators T. J. Ward, Kathy Wainscott, Trace Sargent and Eric Bryant, Detective Frank Karic, and Forensic Anthropologist Jason Kolowski. The series debuted as the highest rated true crime series premiere in network history, with a cumulative 1.1 Million total viewers on premiere night wanting to see the real-time investigation that continues to make headlines across the country. Additionally, 324,000 viewers in the coveted F25-54 demo tuned in, also setting a network record for a true crime series premiere.
Grails: Quests of the Dawn (2004)
Print ROC / Penguin Books
Strange Attraction: Turns of the Midnight Carnival's Wheel (2000)
Print Bereshith Publishing (Limited Edition)
Dante's Disciples (1998)
Print White Wolf Publishing
The Crow: Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams (1998)
Print Del Rey / Ballantine Books; Donald M. Grant Publishing (Limited Edition)
Free Space (1997)
Print by Prometheus Special Award recipient TOR / Forge Books
Michael Moorcock's Pawn of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion (1997)
Print White Wolf Publishing
The Sandman: Book of Dreams (1996)
Print by British Fantasy Award nominee HarperCollins / DC Publishing
Dark Love (1996)
Print by World Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee ROC / Penguin Books
Dark Destiny III: Children of Dracula (1996)
Print White Wolf Publishing
Excalibur (1995)
Print Warner / Aspect Books
Tombs (1995)
Print White Wolf Publishing
More Phobias (1995)
Print Simon & Schuster / Pocket Books
Forbidden Acts (1995)
Print Del Rey / Ballentine Books
Dark Destiny II: Proprietors of Fate (1995)
Print White Wolf Publishing
Grails: Visitations of the Night (1994)
Print ROC / Penguin Books
Michael Moorcock's Elric: Tales of the White Wolf (1994)
Print White Wolf Publishing; Science Fiction Book Club
Phobias (1994)
Print Simon & Schuster / Pocket Books
Confederacy of the Dead (1993)
Print ROC / Penguin Books
Dark Destiny (1993)
Print White Wolf Publishing
Grails: Quests, Visitations and Other Occurrences (1992)
Print by World Fantasy Award nominee Unnameable Press (Limited Edition)