Search Results

Book Reviews Back to Top Untitled Article References Authors Keep Reading < Back Journal of American Drama & Theatre Volume Issue 34 2 Visit Journal Homepage Transpacific Performance: Interdisciplinary Theater, Embodied Reckonings and Cross-Cultural Dance Book Reviews By Published on May 27, 2022 Download Article as PDF Maya Roth, Editor The Interdisciplinary Theatre of Ping Chong: Exploring Curiosity and Otherness By Yuko Kurahashi Reviewed by Craig Quintero Embodied Reckonings: “Comfort Women,” Performance and Transpacific Redress By Elizabeth Son Reviewed by Devika Ranjan Love Dances: Loss and Mourning in Intercultural Collaboration By SanSan Kwan Reviewed by grace shinhae jun Books Received The Journal of American Drama and Theatre Volume 34, Number 2 (Spring 2022) ISNN 2376-4236 ©2022 by Martin E. Segal Theatre Center References About The Author(s) Journal of American Drama & Theatre JADT publishes thoughtful and innovative work by leading scholars on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas – past and present. Provocative articles provide valuable insight and information on the heritage of American theatre, as well as its continuing contribution to world literature and the performing arts. Founded in 1989 and previously edited by Professors Vera Mowry Roberts, Jane Bowers, and David Savran, this widely acclaimed peer reviewed journal is now edited by Dr. Benjamin Gillespie and Dr. Bess Rowen. Journal of American Drama and Theatre is a publication of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. Visit Journal Homepage Table of Contents - Current Issue Embodied Reckonings: “Comfort Women,” Performance and Transpacific Redress The Interdisciplinary Theatre of Ping Chong: Exploring Curiosity and Otherness Love Dances: Loss and Mourning in Intercultural Collaboration Introduction to Asian American Dramaturgies Behind the Scenes of Asian American Theatre and Performance Studies On Young Jean Lee in Young Jean Lee's We're Gonna Die by Christine Mok Representation from Cambodia to America: Musical Dramaturgies in Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band The Dramaturgical Sensibility of Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap and Cambodian Rock Band Holding up a Lens to the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists: A Photo Essay Theatre in Hawaiʻi: An “Illumination of the Fault Lines” of Asian American Theatre Randall Duk Kim: A Sojourn in the Embodiment of Words Reappropriation, Reparative Creativity, and Feeling Yellow in Generic Ensemble Company’s The Mikado: Reclaimed Dance Planets Dramaturgy of Deprivation (없다): An Invitation to Re-Imagine Ways We Depict Asian American and Adopted Narratives of Trauma Clubhouse: Stories of Empowered Uncanny Anomalies Off-Yellow Time vs Off-White Space: Activist Asian American Dramaturgy in Higher Education Asian American Dramaturgies in the Classroom: A Reflection Transpacific Performance: Interdisciplinary Theater, Embodied Reckonings and Cross-Cultural Dance Previous Next Attribution: This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Book Reviews Back to Top Untitled Article References Authors Keep Reading < Back Journal of American Drama & Theatre Volume Issue 32 1 Visit Journal Homepage Race, Identity and Performance Book Reviews By Published on November 9, 2019 Download Article as PDF Maya Roth, Editor Black Movements: Performance and Cultural Politics By Soyica Diggs Colbert Reviewed by Eleanor Russell Law Sexuality in Tennessee Williams's America By Jacqueline O'Connor Reviewed by Susan C. W. Abbotson Stolen Time: Black Fad Performance and the Calypso Craze By Shane Vogel Reviewed by Isaiah Matthew Wooden Staging Family: Domestic Deceptions of Mid-Nineteenth Century American Actresses By Nan Mullenneaux Reviewed by Shauna Vey Worldmaking: Race, Performance and the Work of Creativity By Dorinne Kondo Reviewed by Donatella Galella Books Received The Journal of American Drama and Theatre Volume 32, Number 1 (Fall 2019) ISNN 2376-4236 ©2019 by Martin E. Segal Theatre Center References About The Author(s) Journal of American Drama & Theatre JADT publishes thoughtful and innovative work by leading scholars on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas – past and present. Provocative articles provide valuable insight and information on the heritage of American theatre, as well as its continuing contribution to world literature and the performing arts. Founded in 1989 and previously edited by Professors Vera Mowry Roberts, Jane Bowers, and David Savran, this widely acclaimed peer reviewed journal is now edited by Dr. Benjamin Gillespie and Dr. Bess Rowen. Journal of American Drama and Theatre is a publication of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. Visit Journal Homepage Table of Contents - Current Issue Worldmaking: Race, Performance, and the Work of Creativity Black Movements: Performance and Cultural Politics Law and Sexuality in Tennessee Williams’s America Stolen Time: Black Fad Performance and the Calypso Craze Staging Family: Domestic Deceptions of Mid-Nineteenth Century American Actresses Excavating American Theatrical History: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Neighbors, Appropriate, and An Octoroon Mabou Mines Tries Again: Past, Present, and the Purgatory of Performance Space Rehearsing Bereavement with Laughter: Grief, Humor, and Estrangement Affect in Sarah Ruhl’s Plays of Mourning Race, Identity and Performance Previous Next Attribution: This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Maya Roth Back to Top Untitled Article References Authors Keep Reading < Back Journal of American Drama & Theatre Volume Issue 35 1 Visit Journal Homepage Revisiting Musicals, Dance, Identity and History: Performance Cultures of the Body Maya Roth By Published on November 16, 2022 Download Article as PDF Maya Roth, Editor Dancing the World Smaller: Staging Globalism in Mid-Century America By Rebekah J. Kowal Reviewed by Dahye Lee Ishstyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife By Kareem Khubchandani Reviewed by Rahul K Gairola Rise Up! Broadway and American Society from Angels in America to Hamilton By Chris Jones Reviewed by Casey Berner The Great White Way: Race and the Broadway Musical; Reframing the Musical: Race, Culture and Identity By Warren Hoffman and By Sara Whitfield Reviewed by Sarah Courtis The Queer Nuyorican: Racialized Sexualities and Aesthetics in Loisaida By Karen Jaime Reviewed by Cailyn Sales Books Received The Journal of American Drama and Theatre Volume 35, Number 1 (Fall 2022) ISNN 2376-4236 ©2022 by Martin E. Segal Theatre Center References About The Author(s) Journal of American Drama & Theatre JADT publishes thoughtful and innovative work by leading scholars on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas – past and present. Provocative articles provide valuable insight and information on the heritage of American theatre, as well as its continuing contribution to world literature and the performing arts. Founded in 1989 and previously edited by Professors Vera Mowry Roberts, Jane Bowers, and David Savran, this widely acclaimed peer reviewed journal is now edited by Dr. Benjamin Gillespie and Dr. Bess Rowen. Journal of American Drama and Theatre is a publication of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. Visit Journal Homepage Table of Contents - Current Issue Revisiting Musicals, Dance, Identity and History: Performance Cultures of the Body Dancing the World Smaller: Staging Globalism in Mid-Century America The Great White Way: Race and the Broadway Musical; Reframing the Musical: Race, Culture and Identity The Queer Nuyorican: Racialized Sexualities and Aesthetics in Loisaida Rise Up! Broadway and American Society from Angels in America to Hamilton Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife Tricks, Capers, and Highway Robbery: Philadelphia Self-Enactment upon the Early Jacksonian Stage The Anti-Victorianism of Victorian Revivals “The Spirit of the Thing is All”: The Federal Theatre’s Staging of Medieval Drama in the Los Angeles Religious Community “An Art for Which There Is as Yet No Name.” Mobile Color, Artistic Composites, Temporal Objects Previous Next Attribution: This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

The Robert Wilson Yearbook, published by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, is a peer-reviewed annual journal dedicated to the life, work, and legacy of visionary theatre artist Robert Wilson. Featuring scholarly essays, archival discoveries, artist reflections, and performance reviews, the journal offers global perspectives on Wilson’s groundbreaking influence across theatre, opera, and visual art. Robert Wilson | Photograph © Lucie Jansch Robert Wilson Yearbook The Robert Wilson Yearbook, published annually by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, offers a dedicated platform for scholarly and creative engagement with the life, artistry, and enduring legacy of Robert Wilson (1941–2025), one of the most original visionaries in contemporary theatre and performance. The Yearbook seeks to explore and expand upon Wilson’s groundbreaking approaches to staging, lighting, movement, and visual composition. Each issue will feature a diverse range of content—including original essays, critical commentary, archival materials, artist reflections, and photography—examining facets of Wilson’s multifaceted practice across genres, eras, and geographies. Entries under this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Current Issue About & Submission Guidelines People Contact Curren Issue Inaugural Issue (vol. 1, no. 1) Sophia Cocozza Listening to Deafman Glance Konrad Kuhn Thinking in Structures: Working as a Dramaturg with Robert Wilson Maria Shevtsova Robert Wilson’s Art of Senses and Emotions Yoni Oppenheim Robert Wilson's Production of Henrik Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken About & Submission Guideline About The Journal History and Mission Founded in 2025 by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, the Robert Wilson Yearbook is a peer-reviewed annual journal devoted to the study, documentation, and critical exploration of the life, work, and influence of Robert Wilson (1941–2025). Known for his radical reimagining of theatre, opera, performance, and visual art, Wilson’s practice shaped global performance aesthetics for more than half a century. The Yearbook publishes essays, archival research, artist reflections, performance documentation, and creative responses that illuminate Wilson’s artistry and legacy. By encouraging historical, theoretical, and practice-based approaches, the journal seeks to advance scholarship and foster interdisciplinary dialogue between theatre studies, performance studies, visual culture, and contemporary art. Our mission is to preserve, critique, and expand upon Wilson’s extraordinary body of work while providing a platform for new voices and perspectives shaped by his influence. The Yearbook is fully online, freely accessible, and committed to bridging academic rigor with artistic innovation. Submission Guidelines The editors of the Robert Wilson Yearbook welcome submissions for essays, archival interventions, and creative responses related to Robert Wilson’s life, work, collaborations, and legacy. Article Manuscripts Length: 6,000–8,000 words Style: Chicago Manual of Style, using footnotes Format: Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment Review: All submissions undergo double-blind peer review; please allow 3–4 months for a decision Images: Authors may submit up to 6 images (minimum 300 dpi). Captions must be included. Authors are responsible for securing all image permissions prior to submission. Bio: Include a short author biography (100–150 words) with your submission. Creative Contributions In recognition of Wilson’s multidisciplinary practice, the Yearbook also considers creative submissions—such as artist reflections, experimental writing, visual essays, or documentation of Wilson-inspired works. These should be accompanied by a 500-word critical framing statement. Performance Reviews We invite reviews of recent revivals, reinterpretations, or stagings of Wilson’s work worldwide, as well as works by artists explicitly engaging with his methods. Reviews should be 800–1,200 words. Please query the editors in advance at robertwilsonyearbook@gmail.com Book Reviews The Yearbook publishes reviews of monographs, edited volumes, and exhibition catalogues related to Robert Wilson, his collaborators, or fields directly informed by his practice. Reviews should not exceed 1,000 words. To propose a review, please contact robertwilsonyearbook@gmail.com Submission Process We accept submissions on a rolling basis. Queries are welcome at any time. Completed manuscripts should be submitted as email attachments to: robertwilsonyearbook@gmail.com Contact Email robertwilsonyearbook@gmail.com

Back to Top Untitled Article References Authors Keep Reading < Back Robert Wilson Yearbook Volume 1 Visit Journal Homepage Bertolt Brecht and Robert Wilson: The Dialectical Triad of Playwright, Director and Berliner Ensemble Actors in Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera Pia Kleber and Shiu Hei Larry Ng By Published on September 1, 2025 Download Article as PDF Bertolt Brecht and Robert Wilson: The Dialectical Triad of Playwright, Director and Berliner Ensemble Actors in Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera Introduction Bertolt Brecht and Robert Wilson are both theatrical giants who have transformed the mode of presentation and communication in the 20 th century. Both recognized the representation of theatre as an artifact but also the significance of the man-the-actor, the live performers’ activities. However, for Brecht and Wilson, the intended effect on the audience is quite different. Brecht targets the underlying socio-political reality, whereas Wilson explores a pre-verbal reality of synesthesia. Thus, we can also argue that they develop different types of Verfremdung and dialectics, corresponding to the divergent missions they assign to their theatres. Wilson’s 2007 production of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera at the Schiffbauerdamm theatre of the Berliner Ensemble, can be considered a special case among Wilson’s works. He has much less freedom in editing and re-organizing the music and the text, and there is a linear narrative and pre-existing structure to follow. In his later artistic stage, Wilson usually enjoys disintegrating, cutting and re-sequencing the text, or inserting other texts, so that the classics are vivisected under Wilson’s aesthetics. He deconstructs and plays with language and opens up a space for pre-verbal reality and pre-cognitive mental activities of the spectator. In addition, in this production, Wilson mainly worked with actors from the Berliner Ensemble, who were not only familiar with the classical interpretation of Brecht’s plays but also trained in “gestic” acting. They were used to a rehearsal process where actors were co-creators with the director and designer which seems to be incompatible with Wilson’s usual way of directing, having great control over the mise en scène . This became a second restraint Wilson encountered in this production. Therefore, an interesting question is: Without his freedom to edit, do Wilson’s unique aesthetics still work? How did he deal with such constraints? Do the aesthetics of Wilson and Brecht clash with each other or can they in some way dialectically co-create a unique third aesthetic? How can Wilson’s directing and dominant aesthetic structure collaborate with the Brechtian actors’ training? To demonstrate the dialectical complexity between Brecht and Wilson concretely, this paper first analyzes the scenography and the costume design in Wilson’s production of The Threepenny Opera. These combined components create a Wilsonian visual space that is, on the one hand, different from historical materialism and dialectical realism by mixing historically specific details with an abstract space of theatrical artificiality. On the other hand, these sister arts support the Brechtian Verfremdung and dialectical thinking in an even more effective way, especially in the contemporary context. In addition, we will examine the acting of two actors, Juergen Holtz and Angela Winkler, who acted with different styles but both helped the holistic aesthetics of Wilson by enhancing the depth of Brecht’s dialectical play. In this part, we shall also look into the rehearsal process to see how Wilson collaborates with strong actors, their spontaneity and individualized inputs. Mise en scène For an analysis of the chemistry between Wilson’s mise en scène, we shall focus on some moments from the Prologue, the first scene in Peachum’s shop, and the wedding scene. Wilson explains in the Berliner Program what he finds interesting about Brecht’s theatre "...is the space 'behind it': behind the text there is the finest irony, behind the story there is an idea, behind the characters there are stories, behind the space there is tension. It is a great challenge to find this other side of the work, far beyond what is on paper." (Wilson 86) The production is introduced by the boisterous voice of Walter Schmidinger announcing the content of the scenes. Then, in true Wilsonian fashion, the characters parade in robot-like movements across the apron, backed by a black curtain with flashing swirls of light reminiscent of a circus atmosphere ( Video 1 ). Mac sings the song "Mac the Knife" with his back to the audience, exposing a naked shoulder. At the end, Jenny stands next to him, facing the audience and informs them: "This is Mac the Knife. " The association with a 1920s cabaret is striking, and the introduction of Jenny’s perspective as a narrative setup adds multiple layers of interpretation. Wilson’s set design ignores Brecht’s stage theory which juxtaposes realistic theatrical signs, designating milieu and time and linking stage space to non-theatrical reality. The Model-book of the 1928 Berliner production, showed the use of a huge wooden door, indicating the wedding scene’s location as a typical stable. Figure 1 & 2. Scene images from Brecht’s Model Book Figure 3. Wilson’s stable in the wedding scene Figure 4. Drawings by Wilson Instead, Robert Wilson sees the stage abstractly and begins every production with sketches and drawings: "Once I know the space it is much easier for me to decide what to do in it." (Wilson 32) Inspired by the American minimalist artist, Dan Flavin, who created installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures, Wilson describes the Peachum shop in the following words: The Peachum shop is a series of low screens with vertical and horizontal lines as if to suggest movable racks of clothes. Together they make a low horizontal line across the space. (32) And the marriage scene as a high barn-like space, as if light was coming through the boards of a barn. Sometimes parts of the back wall of lights disappear and change the depth of the space (32) By confronting two modes of representation - visual (the abstract neon lights) and verbal (Brecht’s text) - that complete and conflict with each other, Wilson highlights the arbitrary and inadequate nature of all systems of representation but adds another dimension to Brechtian critique. At one point in the wedding scene, when Mac and Tiger Brown sing the Cannon-Song, Polly is hanging high up like a religious icon amid the vertical lines, giving the illusion of a church with Madonna. Religious associations are not new for Wilson. For the occasion of the Passion Play, 2000, in Oberammergau, he was commissioned to create 14 stations, temporarily bound up with the staging of the passion play next door. At the thirteenth station of the strongly stylized tableaux “Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in Mary’s arms,” the Mater Dolorosa was printed on a thin curtain with the face of the pop star Madonna, as a modern relic. Figures 5, 6 & 7. “Madonnas” in Wilson’s installation and “Madonnas” in The Threepenny Opera The dialectic of Wilson’s abstraction, his lighting, the body of the actor and Brecht’s text can be seen as a higher dialectical synthesis revealing religious aspects not written in the text. Accordingly, the renowned playwright and novelist, Roland Schimmelpfennig, comments on the production: ”I was very taken by the friction between Wilson’s strong vision and Brecht’s anarchy; that was something I did not expect. I find the Threepenny Opera always a bit difficult because it is so anchored in specific social settings. Take for instance the beggars who are represented as running a business in the play, and Wilson depicts this in a refreshingly comical manner that surprised me quite a bit.” (Schimmelpfennig) Jacques Reynaud’s costumes don’t give concrete statements about the dramatic characters. They are all black and white - except for Macheath and Polly - and reveal strong silhouettes, according to Wilson. On the one hand the costumes are reminiscent of German silent films, Expressionism and the seductive world of Weimar-area cabaret. On the other hand, they evoke some of the central themes of the current political climate like gender issues, androgyny and sexuality, “far beyond what is on paper”. Stefan Kurt as Macheath has a blonde wavy, lacquered dandy hairstyle, wears elbow-length gloves, big painted eyes with false eyelashes, and fetish underwear underneath a shimmering, sequenced black suit, a kind of corset that emphasizes the missing breasts. Getting up from the wedding bed, he displays a tiny black slip with the corset. Figure 8. Macheath’s costume with gender fluidity Later, when he briefly puts on his friend Tiger Brown's top hat, the association with Marlene Dietrich is obvious. Once back in jail, after having shown up at the whorehouse, Mac is dressed like a Wall Street Banker. Fleeing from his father-in-law, he was supposed to hide in the heaths of Highgate where his outfit had to blend in with the locals but he could not resist making a visit to the Turnbridge whorehouse before his departure. This series of costume changes underscores the fluidity of Macheath’s identity, navigating between private and public spaces. Juergen Holtz as Peachum looks like a clown or mime reminding the audience of the circus-like atmosphere of the Prologue and Tiger Brown is a caricature out of the 1920 film Nosferatu. Figure 9. A series of costume changes underscoring the fluidity of Macheath’s identity Figure 10. Peachum’s costume like a clown or mime alluring an atmosphere of the circus Figure 11. Tiger Brown’s costume like a caricature out of the 1920 film Nosferatu From the few details mentioned above, we can see that Wilson’s visuals simultaneously perform a threefold function in their interaction with Brecht’s text: Echoing what the scenes require according to the text via visual suggestions Adding new associations, including both socio-political and non-political ones, to the socio-political themes and topics in the text, especially in relation to the contemporary context where the socio-historical conditions and social concerns have changed Injecting rich visual aesthetics of expressionism, symbolism, surrealism and abstractionism to Brecht’s dialectical-sociological text, exposing the contradiction and limitations while at the same time letting them enrich each other, allowing the audience to make their own associations. Besides interacting with Brecht’s text, Wilson’s visuals also form a self-sufficient aesthetic space, through his signature elements, like his use of light and contrast, his huge horizontal proscenium stage, and a spatial configuration that compresses a 3D theatre stage into a 2D canvas. The actors and settings become part of a larger painting that is evolving, as can be clearly seen in the Prologue and many other moments. Moreover, his use of sound effects and the time-prolongating moments of silence create intentional interruptions to the original flow of the text, although Wilson cannot change the musical score. This allows Wilson’s own aesthetics to temporarily dominate, and make Brecht’s narrative subordinate to Wilson’s aesthetic cosmos. All this creates a possibility of reading Brecht under Wilson, which can be non-political but purely poetic and dreamy, different from a reading in which Wilson’s mise en scène serves and enriches Brecht. This possibility of opposing readings, provides chances of mutual Verfremdung between Brecht’s dramaturgy and Wilson’s mise en scène , actualizing the dialectics among sister arts that Brecht envisioned. Therefore, in The Threepenny Opera , the non-political (from Wilson) and the political (from Brecht) are dialectically assisting each other. The contradiction and interruption between modes of representation create Verfremdung through which spectators get even more space to experience and think, a space that Wilson promised in the Berliner Program quoted earlier. Acting Now let’s turn also to the acting to see how the dialectics between Wilson and Brecht worked to create a dialectical relationship between Wilson and strong actors. In Brecht’s Threepenny Opera, Wilson offers his usual extravagant, often grotesque visual aesthetic like Tiger Brown’s macabre and abstract dance during an interlude making only his hands and face visible in front of the black background. Another example would be when Mac’s bandits prepare the wedding scene by entering the “stable“ in the same manner as they paraded across the stage in the prologue having pieces of furniture under their arms which also serve as props in their well-choreographed ballet. But there are also many Brechtian moments. Juergen Holtz as Peachum worked throughout his career with many former Brecht students like Benno Besson and Heiner Mueller. He can’t help himself translating vague, stylized Wilson gestures into a Brechtian Gestus . His pronunciation of words is crystal clear, but his body posture often contradicts the text. ( Video 2 ) When Filch pays his dues, Peachum’s body mimes the dropping of the coins into his hand and pocket accompanied by a prolonged and exaggerated clanking of the silver as if falling into a metal can. Peachum’s face changes from a grim expression into a laughing grimace. Money seems to be the principal motivation for most characters. ( Video 3 ) Polly’s announcement to her parents of her wedding causes her mother to faint. She badly needs a drink and every sip she takes is accompanied by dripping water sounds. Her husband closes his ears with his hands - he hates his wife’s drinking - and then points silently at his wife making it clear that his daughter’s marriage is all her fault. This scene clearly corresponds to Brecht’s wish that a production should be understood without text and just through precise body language. Christina Drechsler as the wide-eyed fluttery and doll-like Polly transforms her girlish behaviour when singing the Pirate-Jenny song. Suddenly one can recognize the cold, tough daughter of Peachum behind the childish façade equipped to take over both businesses, her father’s and Mac’s. ( Video 4 ) The wedding is like a business transaction. Mac drags his bride along the floor onto the stage like a sack of potatoes. ( Video 5 ) The two hardly ever look at each other and when they do kiss, they are rather like two women, which also questions Polly’s sexual orientation. Their body postures dispel any notion of sexual tension or “love” between them. They both radiate loneliness and cold calculation. ( Video 6 ) On the other hand, there is clearly a strong erotic connection between Mac and Tiger Brown while Mac tells the audience how the chief of the London police was covering up all his crimes. ( Video 7 ) A very special place in Wilson’s production which was lauded by most critics was Angela Winkler as Mac’s ex-lover and whore, Jenny. Winkler does not give a damn about acting jargon like Verfremdung, she is a great actor who always finds the “right” way to bring out the meaning of the text. In a conversation, she related that Wilson never imposed any gestures on her, he just tells her stories and allows her to find her own body posture and voice. She said, “Bob needs strong personalities, not small actors who just want to imitate him”. Winkler’s Solomon-song is like a unique mini mise en scène devoid of any Verfremdung, singing in a brilliant vibrato how she is torn apart by love for and hatred of Macheath. This almost delirious scene by Angela Winkler is like an accident in Wilson’s theatre. He is not interested in the soul of his characters – neither is Brecht – but precisely because he keeps the characters of his Threepenny Opera production so distant, Angela’s realistic and emotional rendering provides such a powerful contrast. ( Video 8 ) Roland Schimmelpfennig found "the acting and singing sensational, Angela Winkler in particular; she only had a small role but she was unbelievably great. The familiar music score was given different layers of meaning, forcing the audience to listen with fresh ears. Brecht’s text can be rather old-fashioned and sometimes feels a bit antiquated, but Wilson almost made it seem dangerous." (Schimmelpfennig) Dialectics between the political and the non-political in Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera Besides being a director, Wilson is also an architect and a painter. To sum up the subtle, dialectical relationship between Wilson’s directing and canonical texts like Brecht’s, in addition to Wilson’s earlier quoted words, another quote of Wilson from Arthur Holmberg’s book can be helpful. Besides digging into the space behind Brecht’s text, directing Lear , Wilson said the following during rehearsals: I don't have to make theatre with Lear […] Shakespeare already made the theatre. What I have to find is a way to put this theatre on a stage with enough room around those words so that people can hear them and think about them. I don't believe in talking back to masterpiece. I let it talk to me. (Holmberg 30) The same applies also to Brecht. The key here is creating space for the text to be listened to and reflected upon. Wilson also created space around the text, building a place for the spectators to meet the text and form their own associations. Here, Wilson’ works like an architect, which he was really trained to be. Meanwhile, Wilson the painter and visual artist, took moments to interrupt the text in The Threepenny to show his painterly vision, in which the architecture he built on stage, the actors, and Brecht’s text all turn into images that are parts of this painting. Both Wilson’s architectural and painterly design interact with Brecht’s text, supporting and renewing the latter with visual-audio suggestions as well as rich imaginary possibilities of association and creative ambiguities. However, Wilson’s mise en scène and Brecht’s text as two modes of representation also interrupt and contradict each other at different moments. This is the first layer of additional dialectics that Wilson’s aesthetics give to the original dialectics already present in Brecht’s play. Moreover, Wilson’s openness to and utilization of actors with strong but different qualities and strengths during rehearsals also adds on another layer of dialectics to the text. The result is a synthesis of three aesthetics: Wilsonian, Brechtian, and Stanislavski’s naturalistic-psychological acting. This enriches both Wilson’s and Brecht’s mode of acting and opens even more space in the play. The Threepenny Opera was a special opportunity for such dialectical synthesis to happen, not just because Wilson encounters constraints that he seldom has, but also because Brecht’s text is special in its episodic structure, its equal emphasis on realism and artifact, and its inherent dialectical dramaturgy. These are absent in other canonical texts that Wilson worked with. This case demonstrates an important example of how the non-political and the political can be combined. It opens up a possibility of dual reading and a space with ample freedom of association on the audience’s side. Such dialectical synthesis of art and politics ensures a space to prevent a socio-political text from turning into propaganda and shows us the importance of the non-political in the political. Wilson’s visual-audio cosmos is in itself non-political, but it has also a threefold political significance, enriching the political dimension of Brecht’s text: Each audience member has freedom in making their association and interpretation. There is a space of creative ambiguity and contained chaos for “ordinary” order to dissolve or to be deconstructed, and for new order to come into formation. There is a space for the non-political to exist, which is important to avoid everything being subordinated to the political interpretation as the only single possibility. Conversely, the political horizon of Brecht’s play also enriches Wilson’s non-political cosmos because, even if the political is not necessarily the only or the most important human quality, it is still an important and inevitable dimension of human existence and can be reflected upon within the Wilsonian universe. Contemplating Wilson’s world as seen through Brecht’s lens, and vice versa, cruelty and isolation among people is not only political but also metaphysical. The meaning of the political is expanded. Not only does it refer to the vertical politics regarding the individuals and dominating infrastructures and ideological hegemony, it also includes the horizontal politics of interpersonal relationship among individuals. As we see in Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera , the isolated individuals are cruel to each other, taking other individuals as means instead of an end. The only exception could probably be Jenny played by Winkler with her authentic acting that expresses her pain and emotions towards Macheath and the whole crazy world. However, all of them, including Jenny, inevitably get caught in isolation: they can only speak in a monologue-like fashion despite being in a dialogue situation. This is amplified by their moments of singing which interrupt the play, and it is intensified by Wilson’s insertion of pause and his directing choice of making the characters not look at each other. It leaves room for the spectators to think, imagine and explore whether it is the political-economic conditions that make individuals cruel to and isolated from each other, or whether it is such cruelty and isolation being existential characteristics of the conditio humanae that create politics with cruelty and isolation. The dialectics between Wilson’s and Brecht’s aesthetics maintain an open space for us to keep contemplating on these conditions and phenomena, preventing us from jumping to any easy conclusions. It deepens our contemplation that is both political and metaphysical. V. Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera in the contemporary debates about ‘political theatre’ Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera explores the interplay between political themes and a contemplative, indeterminate space. This duality engages with contemporary debates on the nature of political theatre. Specifically, it addresses the dilemma of how theatre can remain politically relevant as it avoids reducing performances to mere thematic engagement and avoids unintentionally adopting forms that are politically conservative or even oppressive. On the other hand, it also avoids formalism that, while appearing politically progressive, risks becoming self-enclosed and detached from the real world. Often categorized as post-dramatic theatre, Wilson’s works, as described by Hans-Thies Lehmann, respond to the sociocultural shifts of the late 20th century, where media technology and globalization transformed traditional dramatic theatre (16-17). Post-dramatic theatre emphasizes form over fictional representation, narrative unity, coherent characters, and passive spectatorship. These elements, as Jürs-Munby et al. argue, redefine political theatre by rejecting mimetic storytelling in favor of non-linear, participatory, and perceptually immediate experiences. This approach shifts from "making political theatre" to "making theatre in a political way." (9) However, critiques expressed by the likes of Thomas Ostermeier highlight potential pitfalls, including the risk of formalism leading to political apathy, which ultimately becomes part of the oppressive system (Boenisch 459). Ostermeier argues that some post-dramatic works inadvertently reinforce the ideological status quo through "capitalist realism," rendering them self-referential and detached from social relevance (Boenisch and Ostermeier 2). This critique underscores the tension in post-dramatic theatre between formal innovation and meaningful political engagement. Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera , combining Brechtian dramaturgy with post-dramatic aesthetics, offers a potential resolution to this tension. Brecht’s use of fable and socio-economic causality, while contrasting with Lehmann’s critique of narrative structures, retains its political sharpness through strategies of estrangement and interruption. Wilson enriches this dialectic by blending Brecht’s political intent with his own visual and structural innovations, creating a layered experience that resists superficial coherence, as discussed earlier in this essay. By maintaining loose, multilayered, and often indirect connections to external realities while also fostering imaginative reflection, the production bridges the divide between form and theme, avoiding the pitfalls of formalism and expanding the possibilities of political theatre. In this synthesis, Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera affirms the value of combining political and non-political elements, offering a model for addressing contemporary complexities. It preserves the political dimension through open-ended engagement, enabling audiences to explore nuanced interpretations of societal and existential dynamics. Bibliography Boenisch, Peter M. "Thomas Ostermeier: A ‘sociological theatre ’for the age of globalised precarity." Contemporary European Theatre Directors. Routledge, 2020. 455-476. Boenisch, Peter M., and Ostermeier, Thomas. The Theatre of Thomas Ostermeier . Routledge, 2016. Brecht, Bertolt, and Weill, Kurt. The Threepenny Opera , directed by Robert Wilson, performed by Angela Winkler, et al., Berliner Ensemble. Opening Night: September 27th, 2007. Holmberg, Arthur., The Theatre of Robert Wilson . Cambridge University Press, 1996 Jürs-Munby, Karen, Jerome Carroll, and Steve Giles, eds. Postdramatic Theatre and the Political: International Perspectives on Contemporary Performance . A&C Black, 2013. Lehmann, Hans-Thies. Postdramatic Theatre . Routledge, 2006. Schimmelpfennig, Roland. Interview Nov. 16th, 2024, Toronto. conducted by Pia Kleber Wilson, Robert. The Threepenny Opera, Programmheft Nr.91, Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, 2007. -------. “The Threepenny Opera: Drawings.” Journal for performing Art , Jan.2008, Vol.30, No.1, pp.31-41 About The Author(s) Robert Wilson Yearbook The Robert Wilson Yearbook, published annually by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, offers a dedicated platform for scholarly and creative engagement with the life, artistry, and enduring legacy of Robert Wilson (1941–2025), one of the most original visionaries in contemporary theatre and performance. The Yearbook seeks to explore and expand upon Wilson’s groundbreaking approaches to staging, lighting, movement, and visual composition. Each issue will feature a diverse range of content—including original essays, critical commentary, archival materials, artist reflections, and photography—examining facets of Wilson’s multifaceted practice across genres, eras, and geographies. The Robert Wilson Yearbook is a publication of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. Visit Journal Homepage Table of Contents - This Issue Listening to Deafman Glance Robert Wilson’s Art of Senses and Emotions Robert Wilson's Production of Henrik Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken Thinking in Structures: Working as a Dramaturg with Robert Wilson Bertolt Brecht and Robert Wilson: The Dialectical Triad of Playwright, Director and Berliner Ensemble Actors in Wilson’s The Threepenny Opera Previous Next Attribution: This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Book Reviews Back to Top Untitled Article References Authors Keep Reading < Back Journal of American Drama & Theatre Volume Issue 34 1 Visit Journal Homepage Radical Experiments in American Playwriting, Tragedy, and Tourism Book Reviews By Published on December 9, 2021 Download Article as PDF Maya Roth, Editor Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry By Soyica Diggs Colbert Reviewed by Kristyl D. Tift Susan Glaspell’s Poetics and Politics of Rebellion By Emeline Jouve Reviewed by Jennifer-Scott Mobley The Risk Theatre Model of Tragedy: Gambling, Drama, and the Unexpected By Edwin Wong Reviewed by David Pellegrini Performance and the Disney Theme Park Experience: The Tourist as Actor Edited by Jennifer A. Kokai and Tom Robson Reviewed by Hui Peng Books Received The Journal of American Drama and Theatre Volume 34, Number 1 (Fall 2021) ISNN 2376-4236 ©2021 by Martin E. Segal Theatre Center References About The Author(s) Journal of American Drama & Theatre JADT publishes thoughtful and innovative work by leading scholars on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas – past and present. Provocative articles provide valuable insight and information on the heritage of American theatre, as well as its continuing contribution to world literature and the performing arts. Founded in 1989 and previously edited by Professors Vera Mowry Roberts, Jane Bowers, and David Savran, this widely acclaimed peer reviewed journal is now edited by Dr. Benjamin Gillespie and Dr. Bess Rowen. Journal of American Drama and Theatre is a publication of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. Visit Journal Homepage Table of Contents - Current Issue Performance and the Disney Theme Park Experience: The Tourist as Actor The Risk Theatre Model of Tragedy: Gambling, Drama, and the Unexpected Susan Glaspell’s Poetics and Politics of Rebellion Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry The Mysterious Murder of Mrs. Shakespeare: Transgressive Performance in Nineteenth-Century New York “What Will Be Changed?”: Maxwell Anderson and the Literary Legacy of Sacco and Vanzetti Theatre of Isolation “A Certain Man Had Two [Kids]”: Tragic Parables, “The Prodigal Son,” and Edward Albee's The Goat “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells [Her] Story”: An Intersectional Analysis of the Women of Hamilton Radical Experiments in American Playwriting, Tragedy, and Tourism Previous Next Attribution: This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Traces (Lands), Theatre de L’Entrouvert (France) at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event A participatory project/performance by Elise Vigneron with a group of up to 40 people -- and feet cast in ice. Saturday, September 6, Hudson River Park, Pier 51 “TRACES” represents a human community, featuring thirty participants of all ages, through the image of a choir made of ice feet. A plastic and choreographic project that connects us and makes us sensitive to the world we live in. Through an ephemeral and collective performance conceived for a public space, Élise Vigneron in collaboration with circus artist Eleonora Gimenez questions the ecological stakes and the traces left by human beings as they pass through the world. The participants, their feet cast in ice by the artistic team, are the actors of this choreographed installation. The singularity of each member, their bodies and the individual stories, form a chorus and discover their collective identity. The ice mirrors the fragility of the world and its transformation into water, the ephemeral nature of human experience and narrative. https://lentrouvert.com/en/lands/ Trained in visual arts, theatre and circus, Elise Vigneron attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette de Charleville-Mézières and graduated with honors in 2005. From 2005 to 2011, she worked as a puppeteer and set designer for the company Le Théâtre de Nuit directed by Aurélie Morin. She then joined the Vélo Théâtre, where she created the solo work Traversées, before founding Théâtre de L’Entrouvert in 2010. Since then, she has created many works, at her own theatre and in association with Espace Jéliote, TJP, CDN Strasbourg Grand-Est, Marseille’s Théâtre du Gymnase, for the 2019 Avignon Festival, Théâtre du Bois de l’Aune in Aix-en-Provence, the Théâtre Joliette in Marseille, among others. Anchor 1 Location & Schedule

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Prelude Festival at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event August 29 – 31, 2025. • Cubalandia, Cuba/New York • The History of Black People, based on texts by Édouard Glissant, Martinique/New York • stigmas on the body of air, with Ekaterina Derysheva and others, Ukraine/New York • Gwo-Ka Lewoz, drumming dance, Rockaway Beach, Guadeloupe • HISTORIAS, in collaboration with Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural And Educational Center • Flexn Street Dance Fest, Puerto Rico/New York • Rwanda TBC • South Korea TBC • Indonesia TBC • Brazil TBC • And Others TBC >Participating companies & Artists • Compagnie Basinga (Congo/France) • SenCirk (Senegal) • Theatre de L’Entrouvert (France) • Kaleider (UK) • Théâtre de la Ville (France) • Parini Secondo (Italy) • Milo Rau (Vienna) • Édouard Louis (France) • FLEXN (NYC) • And Others Anchor 1 Location & Schedule August 29 – 31, 2025 at various locations throughout NYC.

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Le Cirque Kikasse, Quebec (Canada) at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event September 4, SANTÉ! by Cirque Kikasse (Quebec), at Culture Lab, Long Island City; and on September 5, in partnership with the LaGuardia Community Greenway, a collaborative effort to create a new open space for Long Island City. SANTÉ! by Cirque Kikasse is a dynamic circus show with high-level acrobatics, contagious energy, and breathtaking balancing acts… all on their extraordinary food truck! Cirque Kikasse troupe transforms tables and chairs into a balancing tower 30 feet in the air, creating comic chaos as they clean their truck and trampoline, and flooding the area with popcorn. A light-hearted tour de force sure to tickle your inner child and thrill your kids. Contemporary circus is an infectious performance art hybrid, employing elements of acrobatics, theatre, music, comedy, and improvisation to fashion narrative and engage audiences of all ages and backgrounds. It expands access to cultural expression, encourages public assembly, and unifies communities. Anchor 1 Location & Schedule

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Compagnie SenCirk (Senegal) at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event In partnership with Herbert Von King Park, Brooklyn, and Bridge Street Development Corporation, Franklin Avenue Open Streets. Plus, a kids workshops at the Macon and/or Marcy libraries in Bed-Stuy. Brooklyn Public Library with Urban Stages to co-produce the workshop. In ANCRAGE (‘anchoring”), indoor version; and DUO SENCIRK (an outdoor version), a man awakens and encounters an alien being. Performed by two acrobats, Modou Fata Touré and Ibrahima Camara, they measure, observe and confront each other, then mutually tame each other. When they find their anchorage, a world arises where nature and man merge, take root in each other, and harmony is created. Modou Fata Touré questions Europe and Africa: What if contemporary circus was not only European, and what if African circus was not exclusively traditional? Through ANCRAGE, Modou and Ibrahima reclaim the circus's African identity. The local materials of Senegal—bags of rice, traditional brooms, wooden ladders—join raw materials like earth, sand, aluminium, and straw. Sencirk's unique approach shares personal stories that West Africans—and others—can relate to, from clandestine migration to Europe to the experience of living as a talibé runaway. Founded in 2009 by Modou Fata Touré, SenCirk is Senegal's first circus organization, encompassing a company, school, and performance tent. Touré, who as a teenager, discovered circus arts at Sweden's Cirkus Cirkör, transformed himself from a child beggar to a leading figure in contemporary African circus. Rather than pursuing a career in Europe, he returned home to establish SenCirk, which uniquely blends traditional Senegalese culture with contemporary circus arts. The company employs 12 professional artists from diverse backgrounds and provides free workshops at shelters for street children and women. SenCirk maintains its African identity by crafting equipment from local materials and training future circus professionals while supporting children in need throughout Dakar. Anchor 1 Location & Schedule September 3, 2025. SenCirk Duo, by SenCirk, an outdoor version. LaGuardia Community College Performing Arts Centre Courtyard September 3, 2025. Ancrage, by SenCirk (indoor, evening). LaGuardia Community College Performing Arts Centre’s new state-of-the-art theatre September 5, 2025. SenCirk Duo, by SenCirk, an outdoor version. Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem, 2 shows, with a kids workshop workshops in tightrope walking, costume design, and photography to promote personal development, between afternoon and evening performances September 6, 2025. SenCirk Duo, by SenCirk, an outdoor version, 2 shows.

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Parini Secondo (Italy) at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event A choreographic and musical composition built around the jump rope repurposed as a rhythmic and choreographic percussive instrument. Morning September 6 and 7. Presented in partnership with the Art & Sport program of Théâtre de la Ville. Washington Square Park and The University Heights Campus of Bronx Community College, the Gould Memorial Library, the iconic building, designed by Stanford White. In the dual athletic and rhythmic nature of the jump rope, HIT elevates the intimate practice of training into a performative action: the hammering succession of rope strokes morphs into the drumbeat of rebellion against those forces that would have us lie motionless on the ground with our eyes closed. Parini Secondo focus on the sound produced by rope skipping, dissecting its timbral possibilities. The jumpers on stage perform a rhythmic and at the same time choreographic score in which single-unders, side-swings and double-unders are both athletic and musical elements: combined with voice and synthetic sounds, they harmonize into a true hit. Anchor 1 Location & Schedule

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Resistance Now! Theatre and Politics with Milo Rau, Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event As an internationally recognized theatre director and artistic director of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna, Milo Rau along with Frank Hentschker will lead a day-long symposium that will connect developments in Central and Western Europe and Latin America with those unfolding in the United States. Milo Rau will focus particular attention on the question of how Donald Trump's second term in office will impact the US cultural sector. The symposium will introduce attendees to Rau's School of Resistance, a project that fosters international collaborative solidarity in the face of global threats to artistic freedom. DOWN TO EARTH will bring artists, activists, researchers, philosophers, politicians, and local guests into the conversation to share their visions of how to participate in a global, solidarity-based response to this charged contemporary moment. The symposium on September 2 will be accompanied by a reading of Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek’s play The Second Coming in the evening with music by Laurie Anderson. On September 3 Milo Rau and Édouard Louis will present a workshop demonstration of The Interrogation, a play they wrote and staged together, performed by Arne De Tremerie (NTGent Theatre). The staged readings serve as an example of how artistic intervention works within the RESISTANCE NOW project. The event is free and open to the public. It is co-produced by the Martin E. Segal Center and Milo Rau’s Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna and part of RESISTANCE NOW TOGETHER: https://www.resistance-now-together.eu/home Anchor 1 Location & Schedule

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Compagnie Basinga (France), with highwire artist Tatiana Mosio-Bongonga at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event Compagnie Basinga (France), with highwire artist Tatiana Mosio-Bongonga. September 4 and September 5, South Street Seaport Museum Plaza, 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Basinga's SOKA TIRA OSOA (literally "pulling the rope") takes its name from the traditional “tug of war,” a sport in which two teams pull on the opposite ends of a rope, each trying to drag the other team across a line drawn in the middle. But Basinga turns the experience into a collaboration between the artists and audience-participants. Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga performs her poetic, breathless, spectacular balancing act, accompanied by live musicians. "It takes many to be many." Compagnie Basinga’s Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga will carry out her breathtaking crossing in the South Street Seaport’s historic waterfront district, a feat of balance and imbalance, aided by her audience and the pop-up band’s auditory “ground track.” Basinga’s artistic practices are inseparable from the artists' social mandate: One of the world's rare women highwire performers, Bongonga has been organizing collective adventure skywalk aerial performances without a harness for over a decade. Wherever Basinga performs, she enlists the help of up to sixty local volunteers to stabilize the complex structure supporting the tightrope and help create a ceremony grounded in circus arts that combines music, acrobatics, and mutual trust. Beyond the company’s performances, Basinga conducts cultural and artistic projects in various settings, from hospitals to prisons, offering workshops in tightrope walking, costume design, and photography to promote personal development. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxmlCPPTPBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONB1PIBN948 https://www.lebonbon.fr/paris/news/les-images-de-la-traversee-de-montmartre-par-funambule-tatiana-mosio-bongonga/ A link to a recent documentary on CIE Basinga, ARTE.TV Anchor 1 Location & Schedule

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at In Via Publica: Performance and Public Assembly In collaboration with Wikler Arts at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event Invitees: Kate D. Levin, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts program; Ydanis Rodriguez, New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner; Leslie Davol, co-founder and Executive director of Street Lab; Ken Podziba, CEO of Bike New York; Tressi Colon, President of Marcus Meets Malcolm, a partner of DOT’s Open Streets Program; Sara Hobel, Executive Director of The Horticultural Society of New York; NYC Department of Transportation Open Plaza and Open Streets Program, David Ezer, Director of Events, Waterfront Alliance; Donovan Richards Jr., Queens Borough President; Moe Yousuf, President and CEO, and Craig Schwitter, Board Chair, LMCC; Laura Hansen, founder and former Managing Director of the Neighborhood Plaza Program at The Horticultural Society; Adrian Benepe, President and CEO, Brooklyn Botanic Garden; Jamie Bennett, Lord Cultural Resources; Josh Moskowitz, Board Member, Center for an Urban Future; Director of Financial Access and Impact Partnerships, Citi; Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director, Center for an Urban Future; Commissioner Sue Donoghue, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; David Cerron, Assistant Commissioner for Business Development, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; Arthi Krishnamoorthy, Senior Principal, TenBerke; Board Member, Queens Museum; Eric Landau, President, Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation; Clare Newman, President and CEO, Trust for Governors Island; John Surico, Senior Fellow for Climate & Opportunity, Center for an Urban Future; Alan van Capelle, Executive Director, Friends of the High Line; Eli Dvorkin, Editorial and Policy Director, Center for an Urban Future; Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Chair, Committee on Parks & Recreation; Craig Peterson, Program Officer and Amy Freitag, President, New York Community Trust; Program Officers, Doris Duke Foundation, Mellon, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and Ford Foundation; Down to Earth Festival artists, funders, and partners. Anchor 1 Location & Schedule

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at Arch by Kaleider (UK) at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event An installation opera. In partnership with NYC’s Master Voices and The Green-Wood Cemetery. Kaleider’s ARCH is an attempt to build a freestanding arch, made two-thirds of concrete and one-third of ice, witnessed by a vigilant choir of human voices. Touching audiences with themes of death, renewal, and hope, Arch points towards the extraordinary, yet flawed, systems humans create: language, economies, architectures, democracies – and, inevitably, to the impact of these systems on our ecosystem and ourselves. Kaleider's ARCH event unfolds under the open skies, a thought-provoking performance enchantingly accompanied by the watchful singers. A languageless score by Verity Standen accompanies a relentlessly physical performance, at times meditative, at others arresting and highly charged. During the performance, singers unobtrusively seated among the audience join the core singers’ voices, enlarging the impassioned focus on the task, and blurring the boundaries between performers and witnesses. Each singer leads a group in a different harmony, which interweaves with the others. Anchor 1 Location & Schedule

Encounter 's work in , at this year's edition of the Prelude in the Parks festival by The Segal Centre, presented in collaboration with . We invite you to join us at “Poetic Consultations,” a Down to Earth Festival-Théâtre de la Ville Collaboration at the Down to Earth Festival 2025 Presented by CUNYstages Project, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center CUNY View Schedule & Location RSVP To Event FOUR VENUES, FOUR LANGUAGES, FOUR DAYS. In partnership with The Clemente, a Puerto Rican and Latinx cultural space rooted in the Lower East Side; Mount Sinai Hospital, Rivington Street branch; South Street Seaport Museum; Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem; and additional locations TBD. Open Call to NYC-based immigrant artists, dancers, and musicians. Presented in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Wolof, and two other languages. Poetic Consultations are individual conversations between artists and members of the public. Each consultation takes place around a table: it begins with a free conversation and ends with the artist reading or singing a poem or song specifically chosen for the participant. At the end of the consultation, the participant receives a personalized poem or song in the form of a “poetic prescription.” Consultations are free 20-minute experiences, individual meetings based on listening, on time given to the other, on a moment to share life, poetry, music and dance. Poetic Consultations is a new practice that rethinks the relationship between the public and the performer, imagined by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, Director of the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, and playwright, poet, and novelist Fabrice Melquiot. An unexpected meeting, face to face, in the flesh, between an actor, a musician, or a dancer and a person around poetry. A table and two chairs create intimacy. Equipped with a collection of over 100 poems, invented on the model of the medical dictionary of the same name, the actor chooses a poem from what has been said, the dancer a choreography, the musician a melody. A poetic consultation is a 20-minute individual conversation with an artist. It begins with a simple question: "How are you?" Based on the answer a poem, a dance or a music is selected by the artist as a "poetic prescription" and read or performed in the streets and public gardens of the city, wherever possible. Initiated as a means to combat isolation and create activities for artists during the first lockdown, the project has evolved in different forms, always remaining free of charge for the public. Anchor 1 Location & Schedule