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SPRING 2008 PRODUCTIONS & EVENTS

MAIN STAGE PRODUCTIONS:

THE BACCHAE
by Euripides
Translation by Neil Curry
Director: Barbara Oliver
"I am Dionysus, son of the king of gods." So begins this great classic of ancient Greek theater. Written by Euripides just before his death in 406 B.C., The Bacchae considers the thin line between collective freedom and mob violence--between individual self-discovery and self-annihilation. The young god Dionysus, angry that he has been denied a place of honor as a deity by King Pentheus, unleashes his vengeance upon the people of Thebes. Casting a spell on the city's women, Dionysus compels them to abandon their homes for the mountains and engage in Bacchic revels, thereby driving Pentheus and his people towards certain tragedy.
February 29 & March 1, 7, 8 at 8pm
March 2, 9 at 2pm
Zellerbach Playhouse

BERKELEY DANCE PROJECT
Directors: Lisa Wymore & Shannon Jackson
Berkeley Dance Project 2008 features four choreographic works ranging in style, scope and theme. Local San Francisco choreographer Jess Curtis will use improvisation to explore various ways of sensing and organizing our experience of movement. Through a re-mounting of her provocative piece, MELT, Kim Epifano considers the implications of global warming and environmental change on bodies, cultures, and consciousness. Performance studies doctoral student Ariel Osterweis Scott creates a new work based on the writing of Bay Area poet Robert Grenier. Finally, we are thrilled to offer a remounting of Twyla Tharp's quintessential post-modern work, Torelli. First created in 1976, the piece is being reconstructed with UCB students as part of Cal Performances celebration of Tharp's work.
April 18, 19, 25, 26 at 8pm
April 20, 27 at 2pm
Zellerbach Playhouse

WORKSHOP PRODUCTIONS:

LAB RUN
Experimental performances by students in Performance Studies Ph.D. program.
April 3, 4 at 8pm
April 5 at 2pm & 8pm
Zellerbach Room 7 -- Tickets: $5.00

DIRECTORS SHOWCASE
A showing of one-act scenes directed by students.
April 30, 7pm - program 1
May 1, 7pm - program 2
May 2, 5pm - program 1
May 2, 8pm - program 2
Durham Studio Theater -- FREE

SPRING CHOREOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
Director: Jess Curtis
Students in the dance program present original group works.
May 9 at 4:30pm & 8pm
Durham Studio Theater -- FREE

LECTURES, WORKSHOPS & SPECIAL EVENTS:

ARTS, NEIGHBORHOODS, AND SOCIAL PRACTICE:
The Arts and Processes of Urban Community
Revitalization and Engagement
Art and artists have come to be seen as catalysts for neighborhood change. This symposium is the product of a new Berkeley initiative working to construct a multi-disciplinary understanding of the arts as integral to developing neighborhood identity and activating civic engagement. The symposium will bring together artists, scholars, foundation administrators, philanthropists, policy makers, and community leaders in order to think together about what it means to bring social analysis and an aesthetic imagination into the same place. Co-sponsored with UCB's Center for Community Innovation.
January 25, 8:30am - 5:30pm
Tan Oak Room, Martin Luther King Student Union

BARACK OBAMA: PERFORMING BLACKNESS
ON THE US POLITICAL STAGE
A talk by Shannon Steen
Generally speaking, when we refer to politicians as actors, we nearly always do so as a criticism, to denote a lack of qualities that we label as "substance" or "character" on the part a candidate. What would it mean to be a "good actor" on the U.S. political stage? What are the ways in which politicians engage acting techniques in order to persuade the public to adapt and absorb their political platforms? What, more specifically, do such performances require of black politicians? Professor Steen examines how acting theory, from Denis Diderot to Konstantin Stanislavski to Erving Goffman, helps us understand Barack Obama's political "act"--especially with respect to the problems of forging the role of a black political leader in "post-race," post civil-rights America, and our own scholarly limitations in analyzing what it means to act in the national political realm. She analyzes the qualities constituted by the signifier "Obama," the repertoire of roles this actor has taken on in his political life, and how the construction of his actions as "merely acting" might obscure a potential avenue of black political strategy. Shannon Steen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and the Program in American Studies at UC Berkeley.
January 31, 5pm
Durham Studio Theater

THE PLAY'S THE THING:
Moscow Theater Life in Putin's Russia
Monika Greenleaf (Stanford) in conversation with Anna Muza (UC Berkeley). Co-sponsored wwith the UCB Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures.
February 4, 4pm
Dwinelle Hall 160

BERT WILLIAMS: ONSTAGE AND OFFSTAGE
A talk by Camille F. Forbes, Professor of African-American Literature and Culture at UCSD. Lost though he is to the annals of popular culture, Bert Williams was, according to critics of his time, nothing less than "The Greatest Comedian on the American Stage." The black Bahamian performer (1874-1922) became the leading comedian in America in a career that spanned more than thirty years. Even as he faced the baffling rejection of an often rigidly segregated society, Williams also triumphed, earning the adulation of blacks and whites, alike. In this talk, Professor Forbes will introduce this singular comedian, discussing both his extraordinary work and the context in which he performed it. Camille F. Forbes, historian, holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Harvard University. Forbes' book, Introducing Bert Williams: Burnt Cork, Broadway and the Story of America's First Black Star is being published by Basic Civitas with an anticipated February 2008 release date.
February 7, 11am - 12:30pm
2040 Valley Life Science Building

STAGED READING: LOS ILLEGALS
Cornerstone Theater Company presents a free staged reading of Los Illegals, written by Michael John Garces, directed by Shishir Kurup. The United Day Laborers Work Site at GIANT Hardware is struggling to stay open. Although many workers use the site to get work from GIANT patrons, others hang out on the corner soliciting jobs and angering GIANT managers. Meanwhile, the action follows two migrants trying to make their way to the U.S. These two interludes continue through the play and tell the story of the migrants' journey to the U.S. An altercation between a day laborer and a home owner bring out anti-immigrant forces, and now it looks like the center will be closed and a laborer deported. The play features a collective protagonist, similar to Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna, which served as an inspiration for this play. Co-sponsored with the UCB Center for Race and Gender.
February 12, 5-7pm
Barrows Hall, Lipman Room, 8th Floor

CLASSICS ON THE CONTEMPORARY STAGE
Ancient Greek plays have the power to engage audiences 2500 years after their composition. This panel with Helene Foley, Mark Griffith, and Barbara Oliver will discuss the choices and challenges faced by a modern director in staging classics, including the TDPS spring production of The Bacchae.
February 29, 4pm
Zellerbach Playhouse

TALK BY PATRICK ANDERSON & HARVEY YOUNG
Patrick Anderson, a visiting assistant professor at Stanford during 2007-08, an assistant professor at UC San Diego, and an alumnus of the TDPS Ph.D. program in Performance Studies, is currently completing So Much Wasted, a book that explores the cultural and political implications of three forms self-starvation: anorexia nervosa, staged fasting, and hunger strikes. Harvey Young from Northwestern University is currently a fellow at Stanford's Research Institute for Comparative Studies on Race and Ethnicity. His current book project, Embodying Black Experience: Performing the Past in the Present, investigates how select artists use performance to access and replay historical experiences of the black body.
March 10, 5pm
Townsend Center for the Humanities
220 Stephens Hall, Geballe Seminar Room

ALUMNI PANEL: BAY AREA PERFORMANCE SCENE
A panel discussion with TDPS alumni who have stayed in the Bay Area and forged successful careers. Alumni will share their experiences and offer insights into the thriving Bay Area performance community. Alumni participants include Reid Davis (directing), Karena Fiorenza Ingersoll (arts administration), Benjamin Levy (dance), David Moore (acting), Sarah Nealis (acting), and Robert Zagone (film).
March 12, 4pm
Durham Studio Theater

PHILIP KAN GOTANDA
Philip Kan Gotanda is a widely influential playwright and independent film-maker who has contributed to the redefinition of American theater over the past two decades. His innovations in theatrical storytelling bring to the stage a multiplicity of voices, expanding the meaning of “Asian-America” and exploring intercultural exchange and alliance. He is the recipient of multiple honors and awards, including the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, PEW Charitable Trust, and the Civil LibertiesEducation Fund. Gotanda, a Berkeley resident, has collaborated with many local, national, and international theater companies, such as the East West Players, Berkeley Repertory Theater, the Mark Taper Forum, and Campo Santo+Intersection, as well as London’s Gate Theatre and Tokyo’s Mingei Theatre. His plays include THE WASH, LIFE TASTES GOOD, SISTERS MATSUMOTO, and YANKEE DAWG YOU DIE, and a collection of his works is forthcoming from the University of Washington Press. Gotanda will be joining us to discuss his recent play, AFTER THE WAR, which unfolds in San Francisco’s post-war Japantown, at a time when the neighborhood was a mixture of Japanese and African-American cultures. Gotanda will join us again in May as the 2008 Commencement Speaker for the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.
Thursday, April 3, 11am - 12:30pm
2040 Valley Life Science Building

MASTER CLASS WITH COMPAGNIE JANT-BI
This master class will be taught by the members of Senegalese modern dance troupe Compagnie Jant-Bi (directed by Germaine Acogny, hailed as the "mother of contemporary African dance") in the style of contemporary Senegalese dance. The company members will play live accompaniment for the class. No experience with Senegalese dance is necessary but the class will be a fast paced and highly physical. It is designed for students with dance experience. Advance registration is required. Sign up sheet is located at the front desk of the Dwinelle Annex. Open to all UC Berkeley students, staff and faculty. Co-sponsored by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the UCB Physical Education Department. Compagnie Jant-Bi is performing at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in collaboration with URBAN BUSH WOMEN. They will be performing a new work: Beauty of Little Things (April 3-5).
Friday April 4, 11am-12:30pm
Room 230 Hearst Gymnasium dance studio, 2nd floor

DANCE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The 10th annual Dance Studies Conference.
"Willing and Able: Re-Figuring Dance, Performance, and Disability"
Incorporating perspectives on dance from the visual arts, geography, architecture, and medical studies, this inter-campus graduate student conference examines how particular framings of the body define "ability" in dance and movement.
April 25 & 26