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James Franco to contact Tennessee Williams via Ouija board

James Franco says he will use a Ouija board this weekend to contact the ghost of playwright Tennessee Williams. The actor isn’t busting out the Ouija board for a slumber party, but, as performance art.

Franco’s seance to contact Williams is part of an art piece Franco calls “Three Performances in Search of Tennessee,” which he will perform at the Performa 11 Art Festival at the Abrons Art Center on the Lower East Side.

For the first part of the piece, Franco will “spirit call” Williams through the Ouija board alongside artist Laurel Nakadate. For the second part of the piece, Franco will host open auditions for Williams’ classic play, “The Glass Menagerie,” where anyone can step to the microphone and try out for a role. At the same time, a projector will show a pre-filmed recording of Franco auditioning to be the “Gentleman Caller” in the play.

Ironically, Franco recently pulled out of starring in an actual Tennessee Williams play on Broadway, “Sweet Bird of Youth,” opposite Nicole Kidman.

When asked why he chose to focus his newest work on Williams, the “127 Hours” star explained to New York magazine, “[Tennessee Williams is] a wonderful example of someone who’s taken their own experiences and transformed them into art … When I create work solely from myself I get bored with it, I don’t work as hard, I don’t give my ideas as much patience or respect. Using other people’s work as a source pulls me out of myself.”

In addition to acting, Franco is reported to be working on no less than five graduate degrees, at schools ranging from Yale to Brooklyn College. He also recently became an instructor at New York University.