 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
News Release
01.30.09
Contacts: Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, Sally Corbett, sacorbe@emory.edu, 404-727-6678; Jessica Moore, jkmoore@emory.edu, 404-727-1687
Playwriting Center “Brave New Works” Involve and Evolve
The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory presents its biennial “Brave New Works” (BNW) festival of evolving new plays Feb. 4-21, 2009. BNW Festival organizer and Playwriting Center Director Lisa Paulsen sought out campus partnerships to create a deep integration of theater into the intellectual life of Emory. “BNW serves as a springboard for launching new plays onto the international scene. We seek to invigorate the research of Emory scholars from many disciplines by inspiring creative breakthroughs and expanding what might otherwise be one-way conversations into more meaningful dialogue.” Among the plays are three works presented in conjunction with the Emory Center for Creativity & Arts’ “Evolving Arts Festival.”
The BNW schedule follows (staged readings are presented in the Schwartz Center, Theater Lab unless noted.) “Bones” (Feb. 4, 7 p.m., Performing Arts Studio), an interdisciplinary exploration of race history at Emory, is an Emory Founder’s Week event and is cosponsored by Emory’s Transforming Community Project and the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services. Koltes’ “The Day of Murders in the History of Hamlet” (Feb. 6, 7 p.m.), is being translated by Ismail ibn Connor, whose Emory residency is organized by Emory’s European Studies Department as part of The U.S. Koltès Project and Emory Founder’s Week. “Silverhill” (Feb. 7, 7 p.m.)by Thomas Gibbons, an Emory Founder’s Week event, looks at a community’s changing notion of religious utopia.Faculty-written plays are Joseph Skibell’s “Ten Faces” (Feb. 12, 7 p.m.) isa one-man play of true stories and Donald McManus’ “Great Souls, Big Wheels, and Other Beats” (Feb. 13, 7 p.m.), juxtaposes the words of historic figures from India and the United States. “The Spitting Game” (Feb. 14, 5 p.m.) explores contemporary sexual behavior through six short plays by emerging playwrights, including Emory alumni. Biological and evolutionary themes such as primate behavior are explored in “The Fifth Great Ape” (Feb. 20, 7 p.m.) by Kenneth Weitzman and Out Of Hand Theater, and “Two Evolving Plays” (Feb. 21, 5 p.m., “Wax Wings” by Matthew Maguire and “Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation” adapted by John Walch based on the book by Olivia Judson).
“Emory is an ideal place to help create innovative work for the stage,” says Playwriting Center Director, Lisa Paulsen. She likens the playmaking process to a three-part definition of life by Emory Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry David Lynn. “To be a living play there must be a container of story and dramatic action; the ideas must inspire and sustain creative energy; the gestation process must result in a play that can be produced … and then reproduced. It is an honor to be present with playwrights and to nurture and support their fledgling work.”
BNW readings are free with reservations made by calling 404-727-5050. Details are available at www.theater.emory.edu and www.arts.emory.edu.###
NOTE: “Brave New Works 2009” contains mature themes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Digital photos are available upon request.
THEATER EMORY
Theater Emory is a producing organization of Emory University and is affiliated with the Department of Theater Studies. It is a member of the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts and operates under a season agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
CALENDAR LISTINGS:
“Brave New Works Festival,” Feb. 4-22, 2009, Emory University, various venues, dates and times, free with reservation made by calling 404-727-5050, events schedule posted at www.arts.emory.edu. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory produces Brave New Works, a biennial festival of new play readings and exploratory workshops. Playwrights, adaptors, composers, and dramaturgs are in residence at Emory throughout February to develop plays with a combined company of student and professional actors. The 2009 festival includes a reading of new works by Thomas Gibbons and Matthew Maguire, the creation of an anthology of 10-minute plays by young nationwide playwrights and a collaborative project between the Atlanta-based company Out Of Hand Theater and playwright Ken Weitzman as part “Emory Evolving Arts: New Works Festival,” sponsored by the Emory Center for Creativity & Arts, through commissions and grants supported by the Emory University Strategic Initiative for Creativity & Arts.
Brave New Works Reading of “Bones,” by Amy Cook, contributing writer Zoe Fine, directed by Ken Hornbeck,Wed., Feb. 4, 2009, 7 p.m., Performing Arts Studio, 1804 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, www.arts.emory.edu, free with reservation made by calling 404-727-5050. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory presents a biennial Brave New Works new play festival featuring public readings, workshops, discussions, artist residencies and more begins with an exciting student work. Using Emory College’s mascot Lord Dooley, a skeletal figure, as a springboard into the culture of the university, “Bones” discusses the history and present state of race on the Emory campus - from skin to skeleton - telling stories about living bones and those deeply buried. Commissioned by and developed with the support of the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory and the Transforming Community Project (TCP) at Emory University. Fine was a SIRE/TCP summer research partner. This staged reading is an Emory Founder’s Week event and is sponsored by the Office for Multicultural Programs and Services.
Brave New Works Reading of Isma’il ibn Conner’s Translation of Koltes’, “The Day of Murders in the History of Hamlet,” (in English),Fri., Feb. 6, 2009, 7 p.m., Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, free with reservation made by calling 404-727-5050. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory presents a biennial Brave New Works new play festival featuring public readings, workshops, discussions, artist residencies and more. The reading of “The Day of the Murders in the History of Hamlet” is one of nine projects in this year’s festival. This staged reading is an Emory Founder’s Week event and is part of, “Autour de Koltès/About Koltès”, organized by the Emory European Studies Project.
Brave New Works Reading of “Silverhill,” by Thomas Gibbons, directed by Jeff Adler, Sat., Feb. 7, 2009, 7 p.m., Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, www.arts.emory.edu, free with reservation made by calling 404-727-5050. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory’s biennial Brave New Works continues its 2009 festival with play reading based on the Silverhill Community. For thirty years Silverhill pursued religious utopia based on its practice of “Bible communism” and a form of free love called “complex marriage.” But conflict between the founder (Alden) and another member over a young woman leads to a radical proposal. The members must vote either to preserve their way of life or transform it irrevocably. This staged reading is an Emory Founder’s Week event.
Brave New Works Reading of “Ten Faces,” by Joseph Skibell, directed by Tim McDonough, Thurs., Feb. 12, 2009, 7 p.m., Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, www.arts.emory.edu, free with reservations made by calling 404-727-5050. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory’s biennial Brave New Works new play festival continues the 2009 festival with a reading of one-man play full of true stories concerning cons, paintings, synchronicities, faulty memory and family. The writer and director adapted Emory Creative Writing Professor Joseph Skibell’s essay-in-progress to dramatic form.
Brave New Works Reading of “Great Souls, Big Wheels, and Other Beats,” written & directed by Donald McManus, Fri., Feb. 13, 2009, 7 p.m., Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, www.arts.emory.edu, free with reservations made by calling 404-727-5050. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory’s biennial Brave New Works new play festival continues with a reading of a new work by Emory faculty member Donald McManus. By juxtaposing the words of major 20th-century figures from India and the USA, this abstract play explores points of interaction between art, religion, modernity, race and caste, political action, peace, and violence. Performed as a recitative for four voices, the text is drawn from the “Baghavad Gita,” the verses and dramatic writing of Rabindranath Tagore, as well as spoken language of Tagore, Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Babasheb Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, George Wallace, Winston Churchill and Malcolm X.
Brave New Works Reading of “The Spitting Game,” project conceived by Lisa Paulsen, Sat., Feb. 14, 2009, 7 p.m., Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, www.arts.emory.edu, free with reservations made by calling 404-727-5050 to secure reservations. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory’s biennial Brave New Works new play festival continues with an original work by young playwrights Lauren Feldman, Sigrid Gilmer, Dan LeFranc, Scott Turner Schofield, Nicholas Surbey and Steve Yockey. The six-playwright team delves into the culture of “hooking up” in modern society from the vantage point of games and game theory. As sexual adventures are inherently risky and often unruly, the writer-players wrote pieces that challenge us in both form and content. Developed through a unique ‘relay race’ process, the writers are gathering in Atlanta to assemble their short plays into a single evening’s event. NOTE: Reading contains adult themes and language. Commissioned by the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory.
Theater Colloquia with Matthew Maguire, John Walch and Kenneth Weitzman, Thurs., Feb. 19, 2009, 4 p.m., free, open to the public, Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, 404-727-5050, www.arts.emory.edu. Part of “Emory Evolving Arts: New Works Festival,” commissioned by the Emory Center for Creativity & Arts, with support from the Emory University Strategic Initiative for Creativity & Arts.
Brave New Works Reading of “The Fifth Great Ape” by playwright Kenneth Weitzman and Out of Hand Theater, directed by Ariel de Man, Fri., Feb. 20, 2009, 7 p.m., Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, free with reservations made by calling 404-727-5050, www.arts.emory.edu. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory’s biennial Brave New Works new play festival presents this collaboratively-generated theater piece based on primate (and human) social behaviors. This new play reading explores our true nature through our closest relatives in the primate family and offers new ideas and questions about power, sex, violence, kindness and morality. Part of “Emory Evolving Arts: New Works Festival,” sponsored through a grant from the Emory Center for Creativity & Arts, with support from the Emory University Strategic Initiative for Creativity & Arts. Commissioned by and developed with the support of The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory. This reading is co-sponsored by Emory's Program in Science & Society.
Brave New Works Reading of “Two Evolving Plays,” by Matthew Maguire and John Walch, Sat., Feb. 21, 2009, 5 p.m., Schwartz Center, Theater Lab, 1700 North Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322, www.arts.emory.edu, free with reservations made by calling 404-727-5050. The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory’s biennial Brave New Works new play festival offers two exciting plays readings exploring evolution, science, and human nature: “Wax Wings” by Matthew Maguire, directed by Megan Monaghan features two teams of scientists who set aside their pure research on the science of evolution when they find common cause in confronting an epidemic and “Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation ,”based on the book by Olivia Judson and adaptedby John Walch. This is the first musical adaptation of Olivia Judson’s bestselling book “Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to all Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex” - a book formerly adapted for film and television. Part of “Emory Evolving Arts: New Works Festival,” these plays were commissioned by and developed with the support of Playwriting Center of Theater Emory (PWC) and the Creative Writing Program at Emory University, Atlanta, GA. This project is sponsored in part in by a grant from the Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, with support from the Emory University Strategic Initiative for Creativity & Arts.
Calendar | Tickets | Directions | About | Coca-Cola
Artist | Community | Newsroom Arts Home | Emory University | Emory College | Schwartz Center | Carlos Museum |