Martha Clarke is the hottest figure in New York City's avant-garde theater, bringing an erstwhile dancer's feel for movement and a gift for making startlingly beautiful stage pictures to The Garden of Earthly Delights (1984), based on Hieronymus Bosch's painting, and Vienna: Lusthaus (1986), which suggested the way 19th century romanticism evolved toward 20th century Holocaust. Clarke's allusive, dreamlike style can mesmerize audiences into believing they perceive subtle new connections among ideas and events. But in The Hunger Artist, which opened off-Broadway last week, Clarke has turned toward narrative and dialogue, and what meets the ear and brain is less than...
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