Eleni tzimas biography for kids

John Patrick Shanley went on to great things (notably the Pulitzer Prize for drama for “Doubt”) in the 20 years since he wrote “The Dreamer Examines His Pillow.” But to protect his rep, he should consign this infantile exercise in narcissism to a lead-lined coffin wreathed with garlands of garlic cloves.

More accurately thought of as “The Artist Examines His Navel,” scribe’s youthful maunderings do offer some hints of the almost demonic forces that fuel his talent — but they whiz past the directorial tin ear of helmer Rusty Owen and the capabilities of his foundering cast.

Wordy speeches soaked in free-associative dream imagery can’t disguise the naturalistic underpinnings of this self-indulgent piece, in which a shallow young man attempts to rationalize his bad-boy behavior to his abandoned girlfriend and her pissed-off father.

The narrative line is drawn out in three long scenes, th