| Emory Report | August 4, 1997 |
Volume 49, No. 36 |
Theater Emory's 1997-98 season boasts contemporary works by major playwrights old and new in an "ancient" settingthe Elizabethan playhouse replica, the Black Rose. Highlights include Ibsen's Pillars of Society,professor Wole Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel and the world premiere of Lost by regional playwright Steve Murray.
The season builds upon collaborations and investigations, said Theater Emory artistic producing director Vincent Murphy. "We built the Black Rose as a laboratory space to investigate what made theater so vital in Elizabethan England," he explained. "After performing a three-play period repertory last season, we discovered that the inherent vitality in the space could contribute significantly to the staging of contemporary works." All of the season's events except Lost will be performed in the Black Rose.
The premiere of Lost marks the first play developed through the Playwriting Center of Theater Emory to be put into full production. This continues a tradition of new play development started with the Brave New Works program.
In addition, the 1997-98 season continues a tradition of collaboration with other arts groups begun with the citywide Athol Fugard festival in 1992. Theater in the Square will participate with Theater Emory in a two-year Ibsen project with other local companies joining next season. Theater Emory also plans to collaborate with Clark Atlanta University in producing The Lion and the Jewel. Other highlights of the season include:
Exploring the Theater of Shakespeare and Calderón:
Workshops & Symposium September 7-28
Theater Emory residents artists and students collaborate with the Georgia
Shakespeare Festival and guest artists from around the country in workshop
settings that explore the theatrical conventions in a range of material
from Calderón's classic Life is a Dream and Shakespeare's Measure
for Measure to selected scenes from Shakespearean comedies. The month is
capped by a symposium designed to draw conclusions from the workshops. All
events are free and open to the public.
Lost, a World Premiere
October 16-November 1
Written by Steve Murray, author of This Passion Thing and Mileage, Lost
is a painfully funny probe into the dualities and gray areas of contemporary
life. Children-and the adult sense of self-get lost in a spooky, Peter Pan-influenced
tale set in a major American city.
The Ibsen Project
February 12 -February 21
A staging of Ibsen's Pillars of Society and public readings of two other
Ibsen works. The readings are free and open to the public.
The Lion and the Jewel
April 2-11
A celebration of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Wole Soyinka's ongoing
relationship with Emory as the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts.
The Lion and the Jewel, Soyinka's first play (1965), is simultaneously a
poetic folk tale and sophisticated critique of the way power is played out
in contemporary global culture.
For additional information or to make reservations, call 727-5050, send e-mail to boxoffice@emory.edu or visit the Theater Emory website at www.emory.edu/THEATER
-Deb Hammacher
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