Emory Report
January 26, 2009
Volume 61, Number 17



More at Oxford
Oxford College’s campus
is worth the short trip for theater and creative writing events this spring.

Feb. 10
Mary Hood, Oxford
writer-in-residence, reading.
7 p.m. Oxford Chapel. Free.

Feb. 17
“Abolition: A
Historical Musical.”

7 p.m. Allen Memorial. Free.
“Abolition” is the story of the abolition of the African slave trade throughout the British Empire brought about by William Wilberforce in the British Parliament.

Feb. 26–28
“American Clock.”
Arthur Miller, playwright. Clark Lemons, director.
8 p.m. Tarbutton Theater. $5.
“American Clock,” set during the 1929 stockmarket crash and the depression that followed, is described by playwright Miller as a “vaudeville” about the tragedy and comedy of this period in American history.

April 23–25
Student Directed One Act Plays.
8 p.m. Tarbutton Theater. $5.

For a calendar of Theater Oxford events visit, http://oxford.emory.edu
/life/arts/events/
.

 

   

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January 26
, 2009
‘Brave New Works’ evolve on stage

By Sally Corbett and Hunter Hanger

The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory presents its biennial “Brave New Works” (BNW) festival of evolving new plays Feb. 4-21. BNW festival organizer and Playwriting Center Director Lisa Paulsen says she 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,” says Paulsen. “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.”

The festival kicks off during Founder’s Week. “Bones” (Feb. 4, 7 p.m., Performing Arts Studio), an interdisciplinary exploration of race history at Emory, is a Founder’s Week event cosponsored by the 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 Isma’il ibn Conner, whose Emory residency is organized by the European Studies Department as part of the U.S. Koltès Project and Founder’s Week. “Silverhill” (Feb. 7, 7 p.m.) by Thomas Gibbons, another 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.), a one-man play of true stories, and Donald McManus’ “Great Souls, Big Wheels, and Other Beats” (Feb. 13, 7 p.m.), that 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.

Among the plays are three works presented in conjunction with the Emory Center for Creativity & Arts’ “Evolving Arts Festival,” a month of new dance, theater and visual art presentations based on themes explored in the “Evolution Revolution: Science Changing Life” symposium presented at Emory in October. 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 “What’s Wrong With Me?” by John Walch).

“Emory is an ideal place to help create innovative work for the stage,” says Paulsen. She likens the playmaking process to a three-part definition of life by 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.”

Brave New Works readings are free with reservations made by calling 404-727-5050. Staged readings are presented in the Schwartz Center, Theater Lab unless noted. Details are available at www.theater.emory.edu.