Umanism, European arts and culture platform in New York
and
The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the Graduate Center, City University of New York
announce
Opening Day of 2015/16 Italian Playwrights Project
An entire day dedicated to new Italian plays and European theatre in New York in the New Millennium. Partner of the project is the Italian Institute of Culture of New York, which will also host the Round Table at noon with producers, artistic directors and playwrights, mediated by journalist Graziano Graziani, with Giorgio Van Straten, Director of the Institute.
The Media Partner of Italian Playwrights Project is RAI Radio3 www.radio3.rai.it/
-AFTERNOON EVENT, 12pm
Presenting European Theatre In New York In The New Millennium
ROUND-TABLE with producers, artistic directors and playwrights and Giorgio Van Straten, Director of the Institute; moderated by Graziano Graziani,
Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 686 Park Avenue, (betw. 68 and 69t), Manhattan.
Free and open to the public. First come, first served.
- EVENING EVENT: 6:30 pm, December 7, 2015
ITALIAN PLAYWRIGHT PROJECT
The Segal Center, in collaboration with Italian Artistic Director Valeria Orani from 369gradi (Italy) and Umanism (NY) has co-curated a new Italian translation, performance, and publishing initiative. The plays were selected, in collaboration with an advisory committee, from a pool of recent winners of some of the most prestigious playwriting awards in Italy, including The Ubu Award, The Riccione Award, and The Hystrio Award. Featuring excerpted readings of: Ce Ne Andiamo per non darvi altre preoccupazioni(We'll be off, to spare you further worry) by Daria Deflorian & Antonio Tagliarini. Translated by Janice Capuana; Il Guaritore (The Healer) by Michele Santeramo. Translated by Ana Candida De Carvalho Carneiro and Raquel Almazan; I Vicini (The Neighbors) by Fausto Paravidino. Translated by Jane House; and Origine Del Mondo (The Origin of the World) by Lucia Calamaro. Translated by Jane House. All playwrights, except Michele Santeramo, will be present. Supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of New York.
The Segal Theatre The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, (at 34th Str.) Manhattan.
http://thesegalcenter.org. Free and open to the public. First come, first served.
More about the Project: The Segal Center has invited Italian Artistic Director Valeria Orani from 369gradi (Italy) and Umanism (NY) to collaborate in this ambitious new translation, performance and publishing initiative. “Valeria’s initiative is the most significant Italian playwright project in the last two decades in the Americas, and we are honored to be able to support this project,” states Segal Center Executive Director Dr. Frank Hentschker. Valeria Orani adds: “We have a truly fantastic selection of some of the most significant contemporary Italian playwrights working today and we believe that American audiences will connect with the themes in their works.”
The Segal Center’s Italian Playwrights Project has three principal goals:
- To raise the awareness of contemporary Italian writing for the stage in the Americas and to foster the development of collaborative relationships between playwrights from Italy and American theatre artists.
- After the December readings, the launch of a Contemporary Award-WinningItalian Theatre Festival in New York with fully staged productions of the selected plays.
- The publication of a translated anthology of the selected Italian plays.
About Umanism NYC: Umanism is company dedicated to the promotion and support of contemporary Italian culture and its professionals in New York. A movement, an open platform connecting Italy to the USA recognizing and expanding the creative potential of projects by Italian artists, supporting them in each step of the production and communication in the larger and more challenging context of New York www.umanism.com
About the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center: The Segal Center bridges the gap between the academic and performing arts communities through dynamic public programs and digital initiatives that are free and open to all. Home to theatre artists, scholars, students, performing arts managers, and the local and international performance communities, the Segal Center provides a supportive environment for conversation, open exchange, and the development of new ideas and new work. Year round, the Center presents a wide variety of FREE public programs which feature leading national and international artists, scholars, and arts professionals in conversation about theatre and performance. Programs include staged readings to further the development of new and classic plays, festivals celebrating New York performance (PRELUDE) and international plays (PEN World Voices), screenings of performance works on film, artists in conversation, academic lecture series, televised seminars, symposia, and arts in education programs. In addition, the Center maintains its long-standing visiting-scholars-from-abroad program, publishes a series of highly regarded academic journals, as well as single volumes of importance (including plays in translation), all written and edited by renowned scholars. www.theSegalCenter.org
About 369gradi Contemporary Culture Production: In 2003, Valeria Orani founded "369gradi", a production and curatorial company as well as a center for the promotion and distribution of Italian culture, based in Rome, Italy. "369gradi" mission is to investigate new possibilities in contemporary art, performing arts and drama. In 2013 alone 369gradi produced over 12 award-winning ensembles pieces, presented at major Italian theatres and festivals.
