Now in its 23rd year, the PRELUDE Festival returns with a new lineup of works-in-progress and critical conversations, organized by the artistic team: Alessandra Gómez-Misserian, Olivia Mermagen, and Dylan Sherman. This year's edition welcomes two new partners in Brooklyn: Coffey Street Studio in Red Hook and the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, both of which have a long-standing history of supporting artists. Overview Prelude 2026 (free and open to all, first-come first-served) See what's on: Wednesday Oct 7 Thursday Oct 8 Friday October 9 Saturday October 10 Now in its 23rd year, the PRELUDE Festival returns with a new lineup of works-in-progress and critical conversations, organized by the artistic team: Alessandra Gómez-Misserian, Olivia Mermagen, and Dylan Sherman. This year's edition welcomes two new partners in Brooklyn: Coffey Street Studio in Red Hook and the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, both of which have a long-standing history of supporting artists. This expansion reflects a broader focus on celebrating the work happening in Brooklyn—PRELUDE steps outside the theater in midtown and into a hotel loft inside a former barrel factory, a converted 19th-century warehouse, and into private apartments. This year's artistic cohort spans solo performance, ensemble work, contemporary dance, clown, theater, performance art, and music, and multidisciplinary work. Artists were invited to present whatever best serves their practice in this particular moment. For some, that has meant responding directly to the strangeness of these spaces, building new work from their particular textures and histories. For others, it has meant bringing a finished piece into the world, or opening a work-in-progress to share what's still taking shape. The year’s festival is in service of what each artist’s work needs at this moment. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. Wed Oct 7 Wednesday, October 7th at Wythe Hotel and a Private Home 7pm Untitled: Study #1 | Music and Masturbation Nile Harris | Ethan Philbrick PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) 7:30pm the [home] project Ethan Eva Karas PERFORMANCE 9:00pm Blasted by Sarah Kane Katiana Rangel and Jim Fletcher PERFORMANCE Thursday, October 8th Thurs Oct 8 at CUNY (The Segal Centre & Elebash Recital Hall) and a Private Home 6pm DeliaDelia: The Flat Chested Witch | Work in Progress | 5 Dancer Medley Amando Houser (DeliaDelia) | Sophie Becker | JoyBoy PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) 7:15pm Franky Award Ceremony Tamara McCaw AWARD CEREMONY 7pm Working the Elements: Site-Responsive Performance Morgan Griffin, Constanza Valenzuela and Jack Radley (ACOMPI) & Christina Yang CONVERSATION 7:30pm the [home] project Ethan Eva Karas PERFORMANCE 8:00pm BUONG BUO BINAGO! | Bacchanalia Kenneth Keng | Gianfranco Reyes PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) Friday, October 9th Friday Oct 9 at CUNY (Martin E. Segal Theater and Elebash Recital Hall) An Independent Producers Roundtable Linda Brumbach, Nora Chellew, Emma Orme, Bailey Williams CONVERSATION 6pm I Prefer to Die in This Moment | a small gift | Thoughts on Practice Iris McCloughan | Isa Spector | Anna Thérèse Witenberg PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) 6pm Centerpiece Liz Westbrook PERFORMANCE 7:15pm Chaos Garden Alex Tatarsky PERFORMANCE 8:15pm Saturday, October 10th Sat Oct 10 at Coffey Street Studio Manhunter Jake Brush PERFORMANCE & ARTIST CONVERSATION 2pm Protection | FUGUE: An Unauthorized Dramatized Eight-Episode Netflix Docudrama About How I Murdered David Lynch | (untitled) | MudMothers: Memory in and of the Wake Hanna Novak | raja feather kelly | Symara Sarai | Ja'Moon PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) 6pm About Prelude Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival. The annual PRELUDE festival is dedicated to artists at the forefront of contemporary New York City theatre, dance, interdisciplinary and mediatized performance. PRELUDE offers an array of short performances, readings, and screenings — a completely free survey of the current New York moment and the work being prepared for the next season and beyond—as well as new commissions and panel discussions with artists, scholars, and performers. PRELUDE is a place to discover what voices are shaping the future of theatre and performance in NYC, to observe, engage, commune, and critique. See past archives: Visit Archive Meet The Team Meet The Team Alessandra Gómez-Misserian Curatorial Director Alessandra Gómez is a New York-based contemporary art curator working at the intersection of performance and visual art. She is currently Consultant Public Art Curator at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), where she leads the Robert W. Wilson Public Art Mural Initiative, and Head Art Curator at Wythe Hotel, directing acquisitions and programs such as site-specific hotel room performances, art exhibits, talks, and screenings. She is a Curator at Offerings, an ongoing experimental performance series at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square, and is a Curator for Sugar Sugar!, a large-scale outdoor performance series presented in Domino Square during June. Previously, Gómez was a curator for Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy (2023–24), the revival of André Heller's legendary art amusement park, and a member of the founding curatorial team at The Shed (2018–23), where she organized exhibitions and developed commissions for the Open Call program. Her independent projects and advisory work have included collaborations with Nike, Columbia University, the Center for Performance Research, Knockdown Center, Queens Museum, Pace University, Pratt Institute, Martin E. Segal Center at CUNY, Perelman Center for Performing Arts, and more. Gómez holds an M.A. in Modern and Contemporary Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies from Columbia University. alessandragomez.com Charlie Sas Prelude Coordinator Charli Sas is a curator, and a PhD student in the French Culture and Thought department at NYU, where she works on carceral representations in contemporary French cinema, theater and literature. She curated Living in the Fault Lines with the photojournalist Reza, and is currently developing an exhibition with Yuji Watanabe on Japanese folklore. Olivia Mermagen Artistic Producing Director Olivia Mermagen lives in Brooklyn and is originally from London, England. She has made theater with Clubbed Thumb, The Tank, Rattlestick, The Civilians, Elevator Repair Service, Audible and more. She is currently the Artistic Producer of the Coffey Street Studio Artist Initiative in Red Hook. She graduated from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Dramatic Writing. Frank Hentschker Executive Director, The Segal Center Frank Hentschker, who holds a Ph.D. in theatre from the now legendary Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen, Germany, came to the Graduate Center in 2001 as program director for the Graduate Center’s Martin E. Segal Theatre Center and was appointed to the central doctoral faculty in theatre in 2009. Currently executive director and director of programs at the Segal Center, Hentschker has transformed the center into the nation’s leading forum for public programming in international and U.S. theatre and theatre studies; each year, he curates and produces more than forty events—staged readings, lecture-demonstrations, symposia, works-in-progress, and conversations with theatre scholars, theatrical luminaries, and emerging voices in the international, American, and New York theatre scenes. Among the vital events and series he founded at the Segal Center are the World Theatre Performance series; the annual fall PRELUDE festival, which features more than twenty New York–based theatre companies and playwrights; and the PEN World Voices Playwrights Series. Hentschker also led CUNY’s nineteen performing arts centers in founding the CUNY–Performing Arts Consortium (C–PAC), producing the consortium’s first joint festival in 2009. Hentschker edited the MESTC publications Jan Fabre: I Am A Mistake, Seven Works for the Theatre (2009) and New Plays from Spain (2013), and he served as president of the board of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art from 2005 to 2009. Before coming to the Graduate Center, Hentschker founded and directed DISCURS, the largest European student theatre festival existing today; he acted as Hamlet in Heiner Müller’s Hamletmaschine, directed by the playwright; performed in the Robert Wilson play The Forest (music by David Byrne); and worked as an assistant for Robert Wilson for many years. Dylan Sherman Assistant Curator Dylan Sherman is an interdisciplinary curator and producer based in New York. He has recently held positions at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, the Netherlands), Sugar Sugar! (New York), Performa (New York), Slash (San Francisco), and the Performance Talks podcast. Dylan's writing has appeared in publications including The Brooklyn Rail, Motor Dance Journal, Document Journal, and Platform: Journal of Theatre and Performing Arts. He currently studies contemporary time-based art and queer culture as an M.A. student in Modern and Contemporary Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies at Columbia University. Gaurav Singh Nijjer Digital & Web Producer, The Segal Center Gaurav Singh Nijjer (he/him) is an Indian theatre-maker, creative technologist and multidisciplinary designer, and one-half of the Delhi-based arts collective Kaivalya Plays. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Centre for Performance, Technology and Equity (PTEQ) at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, researching the dramaturgy of distance-based performance with a focus on hybrid, intermedial and networked performance practices in the Global South. His artistic practice explores the interplay between bodies, machines and space, creating multilingual live performances, audio-visual experiences and interactive installations. His work has been supported by the Goethe-Institut India, Instituto Cervantes Nueva Delhi, Pro Helvetia India, Künstlerdorf Schöppingen, Deutsches Theater Hamburg, MediaFutures, BeFantastic India, among others. Kaivalya Plays has been recognized as a Global Creativity Pioneer by the Moleskine Foundation and Hyundai India's Art for Hope program. He is a former German Chancellor Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, UK-India Chevening Scholar and Salzburg Global Fellow. More information: www.gauravnijjer.com Johnny Gasper Technical Director Cass Fawcett Stage Manager Valentina Zazzali Assistant Stage Manager Henry Alper Front of House With special thanks to Peter Lawrence, Aidan O’Neal, and the Wythe Hotel team, and Andromache Chalfant, Michael Sharkey, and Michael Sexton from Coffey Street Studio. About Coffey Street Artist Initiative The Coffey Street Artist Initiative is a bold new force in New York City's performing arts landscape. Dedicated to the development of new work, through residencies, lively public conversations, and intimate showings of works-in-progress, CSSAI champions risk-taking experimentation and sparks meaningful connections between artists and audiences. Learn more about the initiative here . About Wythe Hotel Art Program Since opening in May 2012, Wythe Hotel has embedded its art program into the identity of the property, weaving it into the everyday guest experience and cementing its place as a cultural hub in North Brooklyn. In 2025, Wythe welcomed Head Art Curator, Alessandra Gómez, who leads the hotel’s art program and continues to expand the art collection while deepening relationships with artist communities through performances, programs, exhibitions, and screenings.

Watch BUONG BUO BINAGO! | Bacchanalia by Kenneth Keng | Gianfranco Reyes on Oct 8 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) BUONG BUO BINAGO! | Bacchanalia Kenneth Keng | Gianfranco Reyes Thursday, October 8, 2026 beginning at 8:00pm Segal Theater, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. RSVP Here Experience this shared evening as part of Prelude 2026: BUONG BUO BINAGO! by Kenneth Keng: ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE “Buong-buo,” very roughly translated from Tagalog, means total completeness or wholeness, both in community and within one's soul. Ever changing, the piece began as an audience-participative dance tutorial and colonial history lesson. In this latest iteration, titled Buong Buo Binago!, Lead Deviser Kenneth Keng asks how creative renewal is possible in the face of cultural annihilation. Joining him onstage will be Carlos Lising and Reuben Uy. CREDITS The Buong Buo Collective contains within it the souls of Kenneth Keng, Carlos Lising, Red Concepcion, Misha Bernas, Reuben Uy and Danilo Zepeda. ABOUT THE ARTIST Kenneth Keng (kennethkeng.com) is a New York-based Filipino-Chinese playwright and performer who makes work about falling in love with a culture devouring his own. Selected honors include: 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the North American Cultural Laboratory, 2026 New York State Council on the Arts/NYSCA Grantee, 2025/26 Artist-in-Residence at the cell theatre NYC, 2025 Princess Grace Fellowship (Semifinalist), 2024 Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature, 2024 The Civilians/Princeton Next Forever Initiative (Finalist), 2023/24 Artist-in-Residence at the University Settlement/Performance Project. In NYC, Kenneth's work has been selected for staging at the cell, Target Margin, A.R.T. Mezzanine, Brick, Ars Nova, JACK, Life World, Chain, Tank, Maker's Space and Speyer Hall theatres. Photo: Kix ---- BACCHANALIA by Gianfranco Reyes ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE Bacchanalia is a raucous performance that collides military ceremony with spectacle and excess. Moving between monologue, musical numbers, karaoke and dance, Bacchanalia transforms the language and gestures of military authority into an unruly theatrical celebration. The performance plays with the tension between discipline and indulgence, command and flirtation, patriotism and absurdity. Through exaggerated gestures, seductive theatrics, and playful audience interaction, the military persona gradually unravels into a figure of camp simulacra. Part cabaret, part ceremony, and part public disturbance, Bacchanalia invites the audience into a world where authority and the military uniform become a costume for excess and release. ABOUT THE ARTIST Gianfranco Reyes is a Peruvian-born, New York-based transdisciplinary performance artist. Through a recurring U.S. military persona, his practice uses camp, theatrical sensibilities and the streets to examine authority, citizenship and public space. His site-responsive performances often take place unannounced in streets, parks, plazas, and other communal spaces throughout New York City. Reyes received a BFA from The Cooper Union and is an MFA candidate at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Fellowship, The Provost Fund Grant, The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation Grant, The Lucas T. Carlson Grant and more. He has presented work in solo performances and group exhibitions at LACMA, Coaxial Arts Foundation, The Latinx Project, Wallach Gallery, ArtCake and ZAZ10TS Times Square. Photo: Mary Osunlana Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch Untitled: Study #1 | Music and Masturbation by Nile Harris | Ethan Philbrick on Oct 7 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) Untitled: Study #1 | Music and Masturbation Nile Harris | Ethan Philbrick Wednesday, October 7, 2026 beginning at 7pm Wythe Hotel, 80 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY RSVP required; capacity is limited. Room details are shared with confirmed guests at check-in. There is no late entry. RSVP Here Experience this shared evening as part of Prelude 2026: Untitled: Study #1 by Nile Harris ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE No description. ABOUT THE ARTIST Nile Harris is a performer and director of live art. He has done a few things and hopes to do a few more, God willing. Photo: Maria Baranova ----- MUSIC AND MASTURBATION by Ethan Philbrick ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE An essay-song for solo cello and voice on aesthetics and autoeroticism. ABOUT THE ARTIST Ethan Philbrick is a cellist, artist, and writer. He is currently curator-in-residence at The Poetry Project and a member of the curatorial collective for Offerings. In 2023, Philbrick published Group Works: Art, Politics, and Collective Ambivalence with Fordham University Press. In addition to participating in a variety of collaborative performance projects and being part of the musical-theatrical project DAYS, Philbrick is currently making interdisciplinary works that cluster around three different conceptual threads: 1. experiments in music and theory on the nature of instruments and the politics of instrumentality; 2. compositions for vocal collectivities that investigate the contested history of anticapitalist critique; and 3. collaborative research projects that inquire into alternative relationships between music and dance. Photo: Nir Arieli Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch Manhunter by Jake Brush on Oct 10 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE & ARTIST CONVERSATION Manhunter Jake Brush Saturday, October 10, 2026 beginning at 2pm Coffey Street Studio, 153 Coffey St, Brooklyn, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Installation Hours: 2:00–4:00pm | Performance by Jake Brush Followed by Panel Discussion with Dylan Sherman and Charlotte Strange at 3:00pm RSVP Here MANHUNTER by Jake Brush ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE MANHUNTER is a work in progress series of videos, facial prosthetics, and performances surrounding Jake Brush’s experience receiving a series of anonymous, sexually explicit voicemails. After identifying the caller, Brush invited him to his studio to have a conversation about his life and create a silicone mold of his head. The completed work will volley between video documentation of this encounter, exaggerated reenactments of it featuring performers wearing prosthetic applications of the caller's face, and CGI animations. Through this approach, MANHUNTER intends to explore the dark side of digital lust and confront the boundaries of anonymity. For Prelude, Brush will present a video installation and performance featuring footage from the mold making process and the conversation with the caller, alongside casts of the caller's face, the original voicemails, and wearable prosthetic pieces. At 3pm, the installation will be activated through a performance with Brush followed by a conversation with Prelude assistant curator Dylan Sherman and writer and editor Charlotte Strange. ABOUT THE ARTIST Jake Brush (b. 1994) is an artist living in New York. He is interested in reality television, gossip, and interpersonal conflicts. He works in video, performance, sculpture and installation. Recent work has shown at Wave Hill, Duplex, The Shed, International Objects, Below Grand, The Emily Harvey Foundation, Nina Johnson Gallery, MIX Film Festival, and Electronic Arts Intermix. He has participated in residency programs Shandaken: Storm King, Signal Culture, and the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred State. His work has been featured in BOMB and Cultured Magazine. His first European solo exhibition, “Mall, Interrupted,” opened with Kunstplaats Vonk (Hasselt, Belgium) in May 2025. His video work is distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix. ABOUT THE PANELISTS Charlotte Strange is a writer and editor in New York City. They are a PhD student in the department of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU, where they study contemporary art history and the histories of technology, science, and medicine. Their chapbook Strange Biology was published by Wendy's Subway in 2026. Dylan Sherman is an interdisciplinary curator and producer based in New York. He has recently held positions at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, the Netherlands), Sugar Sugar! (New York), Performa (New York), Slash (San Francisco), and the Performance Talks podcast. Dylan's writing has appeared in publications including The Brooklyn Rail, Motor Dance Journal, Document Journal, and Platform: Journal of Theatre and Performing Arts. He currently studies contemporary time-based art and queer culture as an M.A. student in Modern and Contemporary Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies at Columbia University. Image: MANHUNTER, video still, courtesy of the artist Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch Blasted by Sarah Kane by Katiana Rangel and Jim Fletcher on Oct 7 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE Blasted by Sarah Kane Katiana Rangel and Jim Fletcher Wednesday, October 7, 2026 beginning at 9:00pm Wythe Hotel, 80 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY RSVP Required, Limited Capacity. Please note that only confirmed guests will receive the exact room number once checked in. There is no late entry. RSVP Here ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE Blasted is Sarah Kane's first play. Set inside an actual hotel room, this production explores her use of musical formalism, as well as her author's note that “stage directions in brackets () function as lines.” CONTENT ADVISORY This performance contains depictions of sexual violence, graphic violence, and racist language, along with the use of prop firearms. Recommended for mature audiences; not suitable for children. CREDITS Directed by Katiana Rangel and Lucas Kane. Performed by Katiana Rangel and Jim Fletcher. Music by Lori Goldston. Set Design by Marie de Testa. Stage Management: Angel Zinovieff ABOUT THE ARTIST(S): Katiana Gonçales Rangel is a performer, director and educator from Brazil based in NYC. Recent works include Documents Perform 2 & 3 (2026), Nannies of NYC (2025), Ama The Diver (2024), Graceland (2022) and The Vessel (2021). Main collaborators are Jim Fletcher, Richard Maxwell, Katie Brook, Lucas Kane, Jasmine Pisapia, Rodrigo Pavon and Lori Goldston. Katiana has been a member of New York City Players since 2013 and the director of the Incoming Theater Division since 2020. Lucas Kane is a Brooklyn-based theater and film director. Most recently, he was assistant director to André Gregory on Wallace Shawn's newest play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days. Prior to that, he assisted Peter Brook on his final two plays, Why? and La Tempête. Kane's own production of Brecht's The Measures Taken was staged for thousands across Brooklyn and Chicago, in collaboration with organizations like Poetry Project, DSA, Interference Archive, Haymarket Books, and multiple tenant and labor unions. His films have been screened at New York Film Festival, FIDMarseille, Anthology Film Archives, Open City, Porto/Post/Doc, and many others. Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

JADT publishes thoughtful and innovative work by leading scholars on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas – past and present.  Journal of American Drama and Theatre (JADT) JADT publishes thoughtful and innovative work by leading scholars on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas – past and present. ISSN Number: 2376-4236 Entries under this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Home Current Issue Archive About & Submission Guidelines Contact Past Issues Curren Issue Current Issue Volume 38 Issue 2 SPECIAL ISSUE INTRODUCTION 100 Years of Du Bois: “Principles of a Real Negro Theatre” and “Criteria of Negro Art” Khalid Y. Long and Le’Mil Eiland ARTICLE “One Great and Fine Mode of Expression”: On W. E. B. Du Bois and the Exigencies of Black Drama and Theatre Isaiah Matthew Wooden ARTICLE Reflections on Fundamental Principles Jonathan Shandell ARTICLE An Expansive “Us”: W. E. B. Du Bois’s “Pan-Negro” Theatrical Vision Kellen Hoxworth ARTICLE W. E. B. Du Bois’s Krigwa Little Negro Theatre Movement in Harlem and Beyond Kirsten Lee ARTICLE It Was All a Dream: Shifting Du Boisian Notions in Richard Wesley’s The Talented Tenth Kristyl D. Tift ARTICLE Teaching August Wilson in an Age of Democratic Decline: Du Boisian Imperatives and Black Pedagogy Across Campus and Community Omiyẹmi (Artisia) Green QUEER VOICES Debbie with a D Talks Theatre with a T Bess Rowen PERFORMANCE REVIEW The Wild Duck Alexander Miller PERFORMANCE REVIEW Picnic at Hanging Rock Bess Rowen PERFORMANCE REVIEW Last Call: A Play with Cocktails Daria Kerschenbaum PERFORMANCE REVIEW The Dinosaurs Dominic Finocchiaro BOOK REVIEW The Routledge Anthology of Women’s Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism. Catherine Burroughs and J. Ellen Gainor, editors. New York: Routledge, 2024; Pp. 652. Emma Futhey BOOK REVIEW Black Patience: Performance, Civil Rights, and the Unfinished Project of Emancipation. Julius B. Fleming Jr. New York: New York University Press, 2022; Pp. 301. L. Bailey McDaniel BOOK REVIEW The Theatre of Paula Vogel: Practice, Pedagogy, and Influences. Lee Brewer Jones. New York: Methuen Drama, 2023; Pp. 194. Lynn Deboeck Past Issues Past Issues Volume 38 Volume 34 Volume 30 Volume 37 Volume 33 Volume 29 Volume 36 Volume 32 Volume 28 Volume 35 Volume 31 Volume 27 Curren Issue Current Issue 100 Years of Du Bois: “Principles of a Real Negro Theatre” and “Criteria of Negro Art” An Expansive “Us”: W. E. B. Du Bois’s “Pan-Negro” Theatrical Vision Teaching August Wilson in an Age of Democratic Decline: Du Boisian Imperatives and Black Pedagogy Across Campus and Community Picnic at Hanging Rock The Routledge Anthology of Women’s Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism. Catherine Burroughs and J. Ellen Gainor, editors. New York: Routledge, 2024; Pp. 652. “One Great and Fine Mode of Expression”: On W. E. B. Du Bois and the Exigencies of Black Drama and Theatre W. E. B. Du Bois’s Krigwa Little Negro Theatre Movement in Harlem and Beyond Debbie with a D Talks Theatre with a T Last Call: A Play with Cocktails Black Patience: Performance, Civil Rights, and the Unfinished Project of Emancipation. Julius B. Fleming Jr. New York: New York University Press, 2022; Pp. 301. Reflections on Fundamental Principles It Was All a Dream: Shifting Du Boisian Notions in Richard Wesley’s The Talented Tenth The Wild Duck The Dinosaurs The Theatre of Paula Vogel: Practice, Pedagogy, and Influences. Lee Brewer Jones. New York: Methuen Drama, 2023; Pp. 194. Past Issue Archive We are in the process of moving all past journal entries to the current websiite. Please bear with us as we make this transition. You can view all the past issues at www.jadt.commons.gc.cuny.edu . For any queries or clarifications, write to us at jadtjournal@gmail.com May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 Teaching August Wilson in an Age of Democratic Decline: Du Boisian Imperatives and Black Pedagogy Across Campus and Community Omiyẹmi (Artisia) Green May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 “One Great and Fine Mode of Expression”: On W. E. B. Du Bois and the Exigencies of Black Drama and Theatre Isaiah Matthew Wooden May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 The Dinosaurs Dominic Finocchiaro May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 Last Call: A Play with Cocktails Daria Kerschenbaum May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 Picnic at Hanging Rock Bess Rowen May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 The Wild Duck Alexander Miller May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 The Routledge Anthology of Women’s Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism. Catherine Burroughs and J. Ellen Gainor, editors. New York: Routledge, 2024; Pp. 652. Emma Futhey May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 Reflections on Fundamental Principles Jonathan Shandell May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 It Was All a Dream: Shifting Du Boisian Notions in Richard Wesley’s The Talented Tenth Kristyl D. Tift May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 Black Patience: Performance, Civil Rights, and the Unfinished Project of Emancipation. Julius B. Fleming Jr. New York: New York University Press, 2022; Pp. 301. L. Bailey McDaniel May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 W. E. B. Du Bois’s Krigwa Little Negro Theatre Movement in Harlem and Beyond Kirsten Lee May 26, 2026 Volume Issue 38 2 An Expansive “Us”: W. E. B. Du Bois’s “Pan-Negro” Theatrical Vision Kellen Hoxworth Load More Visit Old Website About & Submission Guideline About The Journal History and Mission Founded in 1989, JADT is a widely acclaimed peer-reviewed journal publishing thoughtful and innovative work by leading scholars on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas—past and present. The journal’s 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. JADT is fully online and freely accessible. Our aim is to promote research on theatre of the Americas and to encourage historical and theoretical approaches to plays, playwrights, performances, and popular theatre traditions. Studies of dramatic texts from a purely literary perspective are outside the scope of the journal. “I see American Drama and Theatre as a primary means of reflecting the excitement and progress of our language, our culture, our democracy, our social concerns and our historical roots as Americans. No better opportunity exists for understanding, or for contributing to our understanding, of our American world, past or present, than the Journal of American Drama and Theatre, as shown by the excellence of its past performance and the promise of its future.” – Walter Meserve Submission Guidelines The editors of the Journal of American Drama and Theatre (JADT) are now accepting submissions for essays on any topics relating to theatre, drama, and popular entertainments of the Americas for consideration. Please submit completed manuscripts to jadtjournal@gmail.com . We accept submission on a rolling basis. Please email the editors with any inquiries. Article manuscripts should be 5,000 to 8,000 words in length and prepared in conformity with the Chicago Manual of Style using manual endnotes. Completed manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word attachments via e-mail to jadtjournal@gmail.com . Articles will be peer reviewed, so please allow 3-4 months for a decision. If you are submitting images, please provide the images and captions with your submission. (Pleas e Note: Images should be at least 300dpi and authors are responsible for securing permissions prior to submission). Please include a short bio with your submission. Performance Reviews JADT publishes performance reviews on theatre, drama, and performance in the Americas. Single reviews are usually 800 to 1,200 words in length. We encourage authors to contact the editor in advance to propose a review at jadtperformancereviews@gmail.com Boo k Reviews JADT publishes book reviews of monographs published within the last two years. This list of recommended and nominated titles for review is refreshed annually. Reviews are usually 800 to 1000 words for a single review. To propose a book review in advance, please contact the editor at jadtbookreviews@gmail.com . Click here for the complete JADT Style Guide . View Past Issues People Editorial Board Louise Geddes, Rebecca Worley Co-Editors Stephanie Lim Book Review Editor Jennifer Joan Thompson Performance Review Editor Sydney Horner, Bo-Me Koo Journal Assistants Vera Mowry Roberts, Walter Meserve Founding Editors Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Marvin Carlson Director of Publications Frank Hentschker Executive Director Gaurav Singh Nijjer Digital and Web Coordinator Advisory Board Michael Y. Bennett Kevin Byrne Tracey Elaine Chessum Bill Demastes Benjamin Gillespie Stuart Hecht Jorge Huerta Amy E. Hughes David Krasner Esther Kim Lee Kim Marra Ariel Nereson Beth Osborne Bess Rowen Jordan Schildcrout Robert Vorlicky Maurya Wickstrom James F. Wilson Stacy Wolf Contact Email jadtjournal@gmail.com

The annual PRELUDE festival is dedicated to artists at the forefront of contemporary New York City theatre, dance, interdisciplinary and mediatized performance PRELUDE Festival Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival. The annual PRELUDE festival is dedicated to artists at the forefront of contemporary New York City theatre, dance, interdisciplinary and mediatized performance. PRELUDE offers an array of short performances, readings, and screenings — a completely free survey of the current New York moment and the work being prepared for the next season and beyond—as well as new commissions and panel discussions with artists, scholars, and performers. PRELUDE is a place to discover what voices are shaping the future of theatre and performance in NYC, to observe, engage, commune, and critique. Prelude 2026 room to room View Festival Lineup Prelude 2021 Start making sense! View Festival Archive Prelude 2017 theater/maker View Festival Archive Prelude 2014 . View Festival Archive Prelude 2024 Between the scenes View Festival Lineup Prelude 2020 Sites of revolution! View Festival Archive Prelude 2016 welcome failure! View Festival Archive Prelude 2013 forward View Festival Archive Prelude 2023 20th anniversary edition! View Festival Archive Prelude 2019 Riotous excursions! View Festival Archive Prelude 2015 . View Festival Archive Prelude 2012 . View Festival Archive The PR ELUDE Archive Read 10 Y EARS PRELUDE Edited by Frank Hentschker and designed by Yu Chien Liu

What's On Year round, the Center presents a wide variety of FREE public programs which feature leading national and international artists, scholars, researchers, arts managers and other stakeholders. Sharings, discussions, readings and more, join our events in-person in New York or online via Howlround. Free entry and open to all, always! PRELUDE 2026 Wed, Oct 07 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Devotion (The American Negro) | Music and Masturbation Wed, Oct 07 80 Wythe Ave More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: the [home] project Wed, Oct 07 Private Home - Upper West Side NYC More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Blasted Wed, Oct 07 80 Wythe Ave [Room TBA] More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: DeliaDelia! The Flat Chested Witch | Work in Progress | 5 Dancer Medley Thu, Oct 08 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Working the Elements: Site-Responsive Performance Thu, Oct 08 Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Cente More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: The [home] project 2 Thu, Oct 08 Brooklyn, New York More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Buong Buo Binago! | Bacchanalia Thu, Oct 08 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: I Prefer to Die in This Moment | a small gift | Thoughts on Practice Fri, Oct 09 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: An Independent Producers Roundtable Fri, Oct 09 Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Cente More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Centerpiece Fri, Oct 09 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Alex Tatarsky Fri, Oct 09 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Manhunter Sat, Oct 10 Coffey Street Studio More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Protection | FUGUE: An Unauthorized Dramatized Eight-Episode Netf | MudMothers: Memory in and of the Wake Sat, Oct 10 Coffey Street Studio More info More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Franky Awards Ceremony Sat, Oct 10 Coffey Street Studio More info More Info + RSVP Book Celebration: The Diaries of Judith Malina with NOW! Judith Malina and the Living Theatre Thu, Oct 22 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP Book Celebration: The Theatre of Drawing Mon, Nov 02 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP The Robert Wilson Yearbook -- Launch Thu, Nov 05 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center More info More Info + RSVP Load More Past Events You can view an archive of our past events below Fri, Jun 05 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 7) / Anthology Film Archives Details Jun 05, 2026, 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join us at the Anthology Film Archives to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals. Thu, Jun 04 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 6) / Anthology Film Archives Details Jun 04, 2026, 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join us at the Anthology Film Archives to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals. Wed, Jun 03 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 5) / Anthology Film Archives Details Jun 03, 2026, 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join us at the Anthology Film Archives to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals. Tue, Jun 02 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 4) / Anthology Film Archives Details Jun 02, 2026, 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join the Segal Center to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals at Anthology Film Archives Mon, Jun 01 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 4) / Anthology Film Archives Details Jun 01, 2026, 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join us at Anthology Film Archives to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals. Multiple Dates Mon, Jun 01 10th International Segal Center Film Festival (Day 3) / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details Jun 01, 2026, 5:00 PM – 11:00 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA +23 more Sun, May 31 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 3) / Anthology Film Archives Details May 31, 2026, 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join us at Anthology Film Archives to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals. Sat, May 30 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 2) / Anthology Film Archives Details May 30, 2026, 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join us at Anthology Film Archives to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals. Fri, May 29 Screenings: 'Robert Wilson on Screen' at Anthology Film Archives (Day 1) / Anthology Film Archives Details May 29, 2026, 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003, USA Join us at Anthology Film Archives to discover fragments of the multiverse of Robert Wilson (1941-2025) with screenings of documentaries, productions, videos, and rehearsals. Mon, May 18 World Voices: MARIUS VON MAYENBURG (Germany) / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details May 18, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA Join us for an evening with one of Germany's most celebrated playwrights, Marius von Mayenburg. +31 more Mon, May 18 World Voices: PENDA DIOUF (Senegal / France) / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details May 18, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA Join us for the reading of a work in progress of JULIUS by Penda Diouf, one France's most significant young playwrights. +38 more Sat, May 16 World Voices: JEAN-LUC LAGARCE (1957-1995) / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details May 16, 2026, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA Join us for an evening celebrating the work of the late Jean-Luc Lagarce, one of France's most significant playwrights of the second half of the 20th century. +63 more Mon, May 11 World Voices: LISA WENTZ (Austria) / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details May 11, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA Join us for an evening with one of Europe's most interesting emerging playwrights. +21 more Mon, May 04 World Voices: VICKIE RAMIREZ, Tuscarora / CANADA / US / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details May 04, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA +22 more Thu, Apr 23 Book Celebration—CASSANDRA: A Dramatic Poem, by Lesya Ukrainka (1871 –1913) + 5:00 pm Talk by Seth Baumrin / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details Apr 23, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA +20 more Thu, Apr 23 Seth Baumrin: “The Kharkiv Dramaturgy - Fortitude and Democracy in Ukrainian Modern Theatre" / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details Apr 23, 2026, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA +5 more Mon, Apr 20 Buenos Aires in New York, with Romina Paula's SOMBRAS, of course (Argentina) / Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Details Apr 20, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA Join us for an evening celebrating New York's artistic exchange, Buenos Aires in Translation, with Romina Paula, one of Argentina’s most celebrated playwrights, directors and filmmakers. +53 more Tue, Apr 07 VOICING INNOCENCE: Trauma, Memory, and Contemporary Opera in the Work of Kaija Saariaho / Skylight Room GC CUNY 9th Floor Details Apr 07, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Skylight Room GC CUNY 9th Floor, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA A conversation with librettist and dramaturge Aleksi Barrière about the upcoming 2026 Metropolitan Opera US premiere of Innocence, the final opera by the late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, Barrière's mother. +9 more Load More Visit Archive

Home to theatre artists, scholars, students, performing arts managers, and the local and international performance communities, the Martin E. Segal Center at CUNY Graduate Center provides a supportive environment for conversation, open exchange, and the development of new ideas and new work. Upcoming Events PRELUDE 2026 Wed, Oct 07 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Devotion (The American Negro) | Music and Masturbation Wed, Oct 07 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: the [home] project Wed, Oct 07 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Blasted Wed, Oct 07 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: DeliaDelia! The Flat Chested Witch | Work in Progress | 5 Dancer Medley Thu, Oct 08 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Working the Elements: Site-Responsive Performance Thu, Oct 08 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: The [home] project 2 Thu, Oct 08 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Buong Buo Binago! | Bacchanalia Thu, Oct 08 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: I Prefer to Die in This Moment | a small gift | Thoughts on Practice Fri, Oct 09 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: An Independent Producers Roundtable Fri, Oct 09 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Centerpiece Fri, Oct 09 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Alex Tatarsky Fri, Oct 09 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Manhunter Sat, Oct 10 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Protection | FUGUE: An Unauthorized Dramatized Eight-Episode Netf | MudMothers: Memory in and of the Wake Sat, Oct 10 More Info + RSVP PRELUDE 2026: Franky Awards Ceremony Sat, Oct 10 More Info + RSVP Book Celebration: The Diaries of Judith Malina with NOW! Judith Malina and the Living Theatre Thu, Oct 22 More Info + RSVP Book Celebration: The Theatre of Drawing Mon, Nov 02 More Info + RSVP The Robert Wilson Yearbook -- Launch Thu, Nov 05 More Info + RSVP Load More The Segal Center: Bridging the gap between the academic, local and global performing arts communities through dynamic public programs and digital initiatives that are free and open to all. Prelude Festival 2026 View Festival Welcome to The Segal 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. We livestream many of our events with Howlround . You can find the video archive here . IN MEMORIAM Martin E. Segal (1916-2012) Daniel Gerould (1928-2012) Explore our Work Events Sharings, discussions, readings and more, join our events in-person in New York or online via Howlround. Free entry! Festivals Our festivals provide a platform for artists, educators, cultural managers and others at the forefront of contemporary theatre practice. Research We support CUNY Graduate Center's top-ranked Ph.D. Program in Theatre and Performance in a myriad of ways. Archive Explore archival material, videos, interviews, essays, events and more from across 20 years of the Segal Center's history. Publications We support books, journals and other publications focused on contemporary theatre and performing arts. Get Involved We would love to hear from you and how you'd like to contribute to our work. Digital Initiatives Segal Talks Tune in to Segal Talks, featuring conversations with artists all around the world. Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify Read More Howlround for India Watch a 24-hour onlin e marathon of COVID talks with artists honoring the Indian theatre community. Read More Segal Film Festival Watch films on theatre and performance from over 30 countries, at the Segal Film Festival. Read More NY Theatre Artists for Ukraine Watch a 12-hour online marathon of readings and conversations with 24 New York theatre institutions and Ukrainian artists. Read More

Watch I Prefer to Die in This Moment | a small gift | Thoughts on Practice by Iris McCloughan | Isa Spector | Anna Thérèse Witenberg on Oct 9 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) I Prefer to Die in This Moment | a small gift | Thoughts on Practice Iris McCloughan | Isa Spector | Anna Thérèse Witenberg Friday, October 9, 2026 beginning at 6pm Segal Theater, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. RSVP Here Experience this shared evening as part of Prelude 2026: I PREFER TO DIE IN THIS MOMENT by Iris McCloughan ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE I Prefer To Die In This Moment is a performance centering trans power and presence. Taking formal inspiration from a controversial series of Calvin Klein television ads from 1995, it explores the complex pleasures of objectification, the complicated ways that sex, gender, and power are woven together, and the erotics that simmer just under the surface of the audience-performer encounter. This is a work-in-progress excerpt showing in advance of the project's January 2027 premiere at The Brick in Williamsburg as part of Exponential Festival 2027. CREDITS Written, directed, and choreographed by Iris McCloughan. Performed by Arewà Basit. Costumes by Vincent Tiley. ABOUT THE ARTIST(S) Iris McCloughan is a director, performance maker, and writer in New York. Their performance works have been presented in New York (PAGEANT, BAX, The Poetry Project, Danspace Project, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Ars Nova), Philadelphia (The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Contemporary, FringeArts), and elsewhere. Their work has been supported with residencies and fellowships from Clubbed Thumb, Soho Rep, The Chocolate Factory Theater, Mercury Store, JACK, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Recent direction includes Sam Bell's il bunkerini (Clubbed Thumb's Winterworks), Alex Tatarsky's Sad Boys in Harpy Land (Playwrights Horizons, Walker Art Center, MCA Chicago, REDCAT, PICA, On the Boards), and Joan Jonas & Eiko Otake's Drawing in Circles WHY? (Castelli Gallery/Danspace Project). Arewà Basit is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist, musician, and performer whose work moves fluidly between sound, image, and body. As both a creative and model, she has emerged as a vital voice at the intersection of Black aesthetics, trans identity, and futurist performance. Her 2026 Archive EP blends ambient soul, experimental R&B, and new-wave gospel into a distinct Black trans folk sound, mapping ancestry, memory, and becoming. Across stage, screen, fashion, and music, Arewà's practice invites audiences to witness transformation in real time. Arewà is also Co-Founder of LEGACY: A Black Queer Production Collective, she made her television debut on MTV's Are You The One. Theatre credits include Cellz: Packages O' The Things We Deliver (National Black Theatre). She originated Diamond in A Complicated Woman (Goodspeed) and played Maya in the short film Dolls, produced by Lilly Wachowski. She most recently understudied Performer 3 and 4 in Prince Faggot Off-Broadway (Studio Seaview). ----- a small gift by Isa Spector ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE CREDITS Created by Isa Spector. Featuring Lena Engelstein and Jack Whitescarver. ABOUT THE ARTIST Isa Spector is a writer, choreographer and director based in New York. Spector creates performance between theater and dance, spinning stories of contemporary life through strange and fantastic movement. Spector’s work has been presented in theaters, museums, office buildings, nightclubs, parks and radio stations. Photo: Courtesy of the artist ----- THOUGHTS ON PRACTICE by Anna Thérèse Witenberg ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE Anna Thérèse Witenberg reads writing reflecting her practice, Merce Cunningham, friendship, and working with a young dancer. ABOUT THE ARTIST Anna Thérèse Witenberg is a dancer and choreographer based in NY. Her work has been shown at Danspace Project, Canada Gallery, Pageant, Iowa, and MoMa as a part of the Pageant Residency. Her collaborative choreography with Shade Théret entitled “Mal Intent” was staged in the Ethnologisches Museum. As a dancer, she has collaborated extensively with artists such as Sarah Michelson, and visual artist Nick Mauss on his exhibition at the Whitney, as well as performing with the Merce Cunningham Trust in their restagings of his work. As a movement director she has worked on campaigns for Versace, Apple, and Nike. Image courtesy the artist Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch An Independent Producers Roundtable by Linda Brumbach, Nora Chellew, Emma Orme, Bailey Williams on Oct 9 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for CONVERSATION An Independent Producers Roundtable Linda Brumbach, Nora Chellew, Emma Orme, Bailey Williams Friday, October 9, 2026 beginning at 6pm Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. RSVP Here This panel brings together independent producers from theater, dance, and interdisciplinary practice to consider what it means to produce outside the institution at a moment when the institutional model is changing. Self-producing is where much of the city's new work now begins, and the panel takes it up as something to celebrate as well as examine, including the real difficulty of doing it well. The producers will discuss the particular challenges of alternative spaces, and how those challenges shift depending on whether the work is theater, dance, or interdisciplinary. We will be joined by LINDA BRUMBACH Linda Brumbach (Executive Producer) founded Pomegranate Arts in 1998. She is the executive and creative producer of Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music and the HBO documentary film of the same name, Holiday Sauce, and the ALL ARTS film short Whitman in the Woods. Some of her other productions include the Olivier Award-winning remount of Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach, Lucinda Childs's DANCE and Available Light, Laurie Anderson's Landfall, Delusion, and Homeland, and Robin Frohardt's The Plastic Bag Store. She conceived and co-created the box set edition of the Philip Glass Piano Etudes which received a distinguished honor award for exceptionally outstanding achievement in print music publishing. Current productions include new works by Jlin, Samora Pinderhughes, William Kentridge, Ushio Amagatsu, Robin Frohardt, Ohad Naharin, Machine Dazzle, and Aszure Barton and Ambrose Akinmusire. She received the 2016 ISPA Patrick Hayes Award and the 2025 Danspace Project Rebel Angel Award. NORA CHELLEW Nora Chellew (she/they) is a sculptural artist and performance producer, born and based in Brooklyn. Chellew received their B.F.A. from The Maryland Institute College of Art in 2017. Since 2019, she has worked on a plethora of projects at the Museum of Modern Art, produced work for multiple Performa Biennials, and served as a producer for two new arts festivals, two years running: Sugar Sugar! in Domino Park (NYC) and AIR in Aspen, CO. Chellew has also had the privilege of co-producing the work of Jonathan González at The Kitchen and the Carnegie Museum of Art. Alongside programming, she has worked on scenery, props, and sculptures for various artists and designers throughout NYC. Chellew has exhibited her artwork at Parent Company, NYC; Spencer Brownstone, NYC; FiveMyles, Brooklyn; Brick Aux, Brooklyn; Spillway Collective, Philadelphia; and Phoenix Athens, Greece. She is also the recipient of a N.Y.F.A. City Artist Corps Grant and has published work with Are.na. EMMA ORME Born and raised in Brooklyn, Emma Orme is an Obie award-winning independent creative producer who works in close partnership with experimental artists like Lisa Fagan & Lena Engelstein (the “High Weird” - Helen Shaw) and nicHi douglas, and companies like Fake Friends and CHILD. She is currently the Producing Director of internationally-renowned theater collective the TEAM, working in close partnership with Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin and artists like Libby King, Josiah Davis, Eric Berryman, Zhailon Levingston, James Monaco, Jillian Walker, and more. Emma has a steady track-record of stewarding ambitious works from nascent idea to critical acclaim & box office hits—at institutions like New York Live Arts, BAM, Theater Mitu, NYTW, The Public, La MaMa, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Flea, Atlantic Theater, Drama League, Colt Coeur, and more. Hallmark productions include the Obie Award-winning Off-Broadway premiere of CIRCLE JERK and CHILD’s 1-800, called the Best of 2024 by Helen Shaw. A fellow of WP’s 2022-24 Producers Lab, Emma has also had wide-ranging institutional producing and fundraising experience, at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Theater Mitu, New York Theatre Workshop, The New York Times, Hypokrit Productions, Media Art Exploration, Northern Stage, and more. BA: Dartmouth College. BAILEY WILLIAMS Bailey Williams is a playwright, performer and producer. Recent past productions: The Family Dog, dir. Tara Ahmadinejad, Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks 2026. Two Sisters Find a Box of Lesbian Erotica in the Woods, dir. Tara Elliott, Rattlestick/New Georges, April 2025 and Exponential Festival, January 2024. Coach Coach, dir. Sarah Blush, Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks 2024. Events, dir. Sarah Blush, The Hearth at The Brick, December 2022. Other works have been developed at Playwrights Horizons, Portland Center Stage, Ars Nova, Great Plains Theatre Conference, The Orchard Project, NACL, the Barn at Lee, and more. She is a New Georges and Clubbed Thumb Affiliated Artist and a resident of New Dramatists through 2033. She is currently under commission with Playwrights Horizons. MFA: Brooklyn College. She is currently the co-director of The Exponential Festival, a producer at New Georges, a script wrangler at Clubbed Thumb, and a founding member of Privy Producing Collective, which offers resources for self-producing artists. With her partner, Emma Horwitz, she runs a theater company called Two Sisters. They present work created both in collaboration and individually. They also host a reading series called The Ecstatic Peephole every third Monday at Pete’s Candy Store. Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch the [home] project by Ethan Eva Karas on Oct 8 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE the [home] project Ethan Eva Karas Thursday, October 8, 2026 beginning at 7:30pm Todd London's Private Home (Windsor Terrace) RSVP required; capacity is limited. The address will be sent only to confirmed guests the day before and should not be shared. Doors close at the start time, and there is no late entry. RSVP Here ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE "in a moment, someone will enter this room. they will enter with a large, cardboard box. do not worry. it won't be too exciting. there's just some paperwork we have to complete." An interactive site(s)-specific show about home, performed in homes across NYC, never returning to the same home twice. CREDITS Created and performed by Ethan Eva Karas Produced by Jacob Leaf ABOUT THE ARTIST Ethan Eva Karas (any) is a director, writer, and designer working in theatre, opera, and everything in between. Recently, Ethan served as Artistic Fellow at Playwrights Horizons for the 2025/26 Season. They like ghosts and love stories. They think they're the same thing. @ethanevakaras | ethankaras.com | @homeproject.show Photo: Ethan Eva Karas Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch Protection | FUGUE: An Unauthorized Dramatized Eight-Episode Netflix Docudrama About How I Murdered David Lynch | (untitled) | MudMothers: Memory in and of the Wake by Hanna Novak | raja feather kelly | Symara Sarai | Ja'Moon on Oct 10 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) Protection | FUGUE: An Unauthorized Dramatized Eight-Episode Netflix Docudrama About How I Murdered David Lynch | (untitled) | MudMothers: Memory in and of the Wake Hanna Novak | raja feather kelly | Symara Sarai | Ja'Moon Saturday, October 10, 2026 beginning at 6pm Coffey Street Studio, 153 Coffey St, Brooklyn, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on first-come first-served. Please RSVP to reserve a spot for the performances. RSVP Here Experience this shared evening as part of Prelude 2026: PROTECTION by Hanna Novak A shapeshifting portrait of two former neighbors before and after a tragedy, set in 2022. We'll present some of the "before" parts as a work-in-progress staging. CREDITS Written and directed by: Hanna Novak Performed by: Eleanor Hutchins, Mike Iveson, Linda Mancini, Coco McNeil Lighting Design: Evan C. Anderson Special thanks to Clubbed Thumb, Olivia Mermagen, Frank Wood, Hanna Yurfest ABOUT THE ARTIST Hanna Novak is a writer, director, and producer. Her plays have been presented at the Performing Garage, the New Ohio, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Studio 17. She is a New Georges-affiliated artist and an alum of EST/Youngblood and Clubbed Thumb’s early-career writers’ group. She works as the Producing Director for the theater company Elevator Repair Service and has collaborated with Tina Satter/Half Straddle, Liz Magic Laser, Alex Tatarsky, Hayley Stahl, and Jordan Baum. She is working towards a full production of Protection with Amanda+James. ---- FUGUE: An Unauthorized Dramatized Eight-Episode Netflix Docudrama About How I Murdered David Lynch by raja feather kelly ABOUT THE ARTIST Raja Feather Kelly is a choreographer, director, writer, and the Artistic Director of the feath3r theory, a Brooklyn-based dance-theatre-media company he founded in 2009. His work brings dance, theatre, media, and popular culture together to investigate how we make meaning, construct identity, and live alongside one another. His recent works include The Fires at Soho Rep, The Absolute Future at NYU Skirball, and Bunny Bunny at The Invisible Dog. His honors include a 2025 Doris Duke Artist Award, an Obie Award, a Creative Capital Award, and three Princess Grace Awards. Photo: Kate Enman @kate_shot_me ----- (UNTITLED) by Symara Sarai ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE This work examines the artist's experiences of home and love as they are formed through risk, trust, memory, and cultural inheritance. Drawing from lived encounters and personal histories, the work considers how intimacy can manifest in unconventional, high-stakes, and spiritually resonant forms. Situated at the intersection of dance and live action, the project reflects on love and home as a series of embodied negotiations shaped by vulnerability, autonomy, and relational exchange. CREDITS Performance/Direction: Symara Sarai. Sound: Keyanna Hutchinson. ABOUT THE ARTIST Symara Sarai, a Portland, Oregon native currently residing in Brooklyn, has immersed herself in interdisciplinary and choreographic studies globally with deep recognition. Named Dance Magazine's 2025 “Top 25 to Watch,” a 2023 Bessie Winner for Breakout Choreographer, and a recipient of the Dai Ailian Foundation Scholarship based in Trinidad and Tobago, she is known to be a courageously committed performer and maker. The NYT stated “Sarai is a daring solo improviser, and her uninhibited spirit infuses.” Photo: Elyse Mertz ----- MUDMOTHERS: MEMORY IN AND OF THE WAKE by Ja'Moon ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE MudMothers: Memory in and of the Wake exists within the haptic, an immersive realm shaped by tactile imagination, texture, and breath. It calls audiences into a living landscape built from sensorial memory, transporting them into a world parallel to our own, intimate and vibrating with elemental life. This excerpt is part of a larger evening-length performance work exploring the body, belonging, lineage, and ritual theater. (WORK-IN-PROGRESS) ABOUT THE ARTIST Ja'Moon is a conjurer of movement, channeling ancestral memory through ritual, dance theater, and immersive performance. Their work invites audiences into liminal space, where history, fabulation, and the present moment converge. A graduate of The Juilliard School, their practice draws from African diasporic traditions, physical theater, and collective witnessing. They have performed and presented work internationally, including at Institut Français (Dakar, Senegal), Abrons Arts Center (NYC), Judson Memorial Church (NYC), BAAD! (NYC), and Herbst Theatre (San Francisco, CA). Photo: Alfredo Torres Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch Working the Elements: Site-Responsive Performance by Morgan Griffin, Constanza Valenzuela and Jack Radley (ACOMPI) & Christina Yang on Oct 8 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for CONVERSATION Working the Elements: Site-Responsive Performance Morgan Griffin, Constanza Valenzuela and Jack Radley (ACOMPI) & Christina Yang Thursday, October 8, 2026 beginning at 7pm Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. RSVP Here In this conversation on site-responsive performance, curators and producers who work in unconventional spaces discuss how they working with artists to build projects around the elements of a site: its physical conditions, its history, and the people that move through it. Drawing on projects staged everywhere from public transit and beaches to restaurants, they'll consider how a place shapes the work, how to collaborate with artists on interactive and site-specific commissions, and how these practices connect to broader histories of experimental performance practice. We will be joined by MORGAN GRIFFIN Morgan Griffin is a New York based dancer, choreographer, producer, curator and teacher. She holds both an MFA in Dance & an MA in Dance Education from NYU, and has recently performed works by Merce Cunningham, Daniel Nagrin, Madeline Hollander, Maya Lee Parritz, and Robert Whitman, as well as performed her own work at The Jewish Museum, La MaMa Experimental Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Studios, and the Wythe Hotel. She has recently curated and produced performances at Judson Church, WSA, Russian Samovar, Anthology Film Archives and Jean's on Lafayette. She has done movement direction for Nike, Noah NYC, Paco Rabanne, and Rosie Assoulin. She is the co-producer of Beach Sessions Dance Series, a producer for Something Special Studios, and company manager for Faye Driscoll's Weathering. Photo by Julie Lemberger ----- ACOMPI (Constanza Valenzuela & Jack Radley) Founded by Constanza Valenzuela and Jack Radley in 2020, ACOMPI is a curatorial project based in New York City. Their collaborative, research-driven projects champion site-responsive and interactive works that reflect the inquiries of their artist peers and broader cultural narratives. In recent years, ACOMPI has presented performance at Freshkills Park, the Staten Island Ferry, the Roosevelt Island Tramway, and a Bed-Stuy Supper Club with artists such as Camilla Carper, Pat Oleszko, Georgica Pettus, Peter BD, Amando Houser, and Alex Tatarsky, among others. ACOMPI's projects have been featured in publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Artforum, Hyperallergic, and artnet. By day, Valenzuela is Associate Curator at Powerhouse Arts, and Radley is Assistant Director of Communications & Audience Strategy at MoMA PS1. For more info please visit www.acompi.nyc or @acompi.nyc Photo by Renée Paule ----- CHRISTINA YANG Christina Yang is Executive Director of the Association of Art Museum Curators Foundation as well as an independent curator/writer based in New York and Williamstown. Her practice ranges across experimental genres, performance, and social practice with a focus on spectatorship, politics of the image, archives, and feminist care. She has filled curatorial roles at Berkeley Art Museum + Pacific Film Archive, Williams College Museum of Art, The Kitchen, Guggenheim New York, and Queens Museum. She contributes frequently to the New Social Environment online program of The Brooklyn Rail. She has served as the performance reviews editor of Women + Performance, a journal of feminist theory (2018-20), as well as on their editorial board (2015-20). In 2025, she was awarded her Ph.D. in Performance Studies from NYU with a dissertation titled Bodies In The Dark: Dance and Camera-Performance in The Kitchen Archive, 1974-84. She participated in the Asia Art Archive Leadership Camp (2025-26) led by Daniel Chen and Simon Wu on the topic of “Vaguely Asian.” She is on the faculty of SVA's MA in Curatorial Practice program. Photo by Kisha Bari Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch the [home] project by Ethan Eva Karas on Oct 7 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE the [home] project Ethan Eva Karas Wednesday, October 7, 2026 beginning at 7:30pm Kathleen Chalfant's Private Home (Upper West Side) RSVP required; capacity is limited. The address will be sent only to confirmed guests the day before and should not be shared. Doors close at the start time, and there is no late entry. RSVP Here ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE "in a moment, someone will enter this room. they will enter with a large, cardboard box. do not worry. it won't be too exciting. there's just some paperwork we have to complete." An interactive site(s)-specific show about home, performed in homes across NYC, never returning to the same home twice. CREDITS Created and performed by Ethan Eva Karas Produced by Jacob Leaf ABOUT THE ARTIST Ethan Eva Karas (any) is a director, writer, and designer working in theatre, opera, and everything in between. Recently, Ethan served as Artistic Fellow at Playwrights Horizons for the 2025/26 Season. They like ghosts and love stories. They think they're the same thing. @ethanevakaras | ethankaras.com | @homeproject.show Photo: Ethan Eva Karas Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch DeliaDelia: The Flat Chested Witch | Work in Progress | 5 Dancer Medley by Amando Houser (DeliaDelia) | Sophie Becker | JoyBoy on Oct 8 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE (Shared Evening) DeliaDelia: The Flat Chested Witch | Work in Progress | 5 Dancer Medley Amando Houser (DeliaDelia) | Sophie Becker | JoyBoy Thursday, October 8, 2026 beginning at 6pm Segal Theater, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. RSVP Here Experience this shared evening as part of Prelude 2026: DELIADELIA THE FLAT CHESTED WITCH! by Amando Houser ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE DeliaDelia is a witch from the swamps on a quest to become a “real girl” and join a human basketball team. Will DeliaDelia finally get her shot at greatness or will she be cursed forever? CREDITS Kedian Keohan (Director) KAYE HURLEY (Sound Designer/DJ PUSSY) ABOUT THE ARTIST(S) Amando Houser (DeliaDelia) is a trans-masculine actor and clown born and based in NYC, hailed as “having talents that are other-worldly” (Brooklyn Rail) and a “tour de force” (Topical Cream). Their alter ego DeliaDelia! will perform their break-out solo hour at Lincoln Center December 2026 followed by a run at The Bushwick Starr February to March 2027. DeliaDelia opened at Irving Plaza for pop musician Dora Jar's No Way to Relax When You're on Fire tour. Houser has also appeared in Becca Blackwell's Obie Award-winning Snatch Adams and Tainty McCracken Present: It's That Time of the Month at Soho Rep, named one of Vulture's Best Theatre Productions of 2023, which cited their performance as “particularly funny.” A graduate of École Philippe Gaulier in France, Houser previously trained with Pig Iron Theatre Company and Julia Masli. Kedian Keohan (Director) is a trans theater director and creator of live performances. Currently: Kedian is the Associate Director of The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway directed by Sam Pinkleton. Upcoming: PITY WHORE (Under the Radar, January 2027) and DeliaDelia! The Flat-Chested Witch! (Bushwick Starr, February 2027). Director: reid tang’s BOIDS (Breaking the Binary), Nurit Chinn's godbird (Exponential Festival), Kaye Hurley's :/secondplace (Exponential Festival), reid tang’s ISABEL (NAATCO), Genevieve Simon’s PUNCH BACK (Breaking the Binary), Erin Markey’s First Lady (Bard Spiegeltent), Jimmy Fay’s Straight Wedding (Brown’s Writing is Live). Associate Director: Morgan Bassichis’ Can I Be Frank? (Soho Playhouse), Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s Rheology (The Bushwick Starr), GALAS (Little Island), Ryan J. Haddad’s Dark Disabled Stories (The Public Theater/Bushwick Starr). Kedian is a 2025 Audrey Resident with Minna Lee and a 25/26 Resident Artist at The Cell with Utkarsh Rajawat. Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship and Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab alum, a New Georges affiliated artist, and a regular collaborator of Julia Jarcho/minor theater. KAYE HURLEY (Sound Designer/DJ PUSSY) is a playwright and filmmaker. Her plays have been performed/developed at the Exponential Festival, Center for Performance Research, and as part of the Soho Rep Writer Director Lab. Her short films have screened as official selections in festivals in New York, California, and Sweden. She is also DJ PUSSY for DeliaDelia! The Flat-Chested Witch! BA: Fordham MFA: Brooklyn College Photo: Harrison Kroessler ----- WORK IN PROGRESS by Sophie Becker ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE Sophie Becker performs a work in progress for the stage. Embracing the history of ventriloquism, Becker interpolates a type of masculine entertainment style once featured on midcentury prime time, late-night shows, and children's television to explore different styles of voice, with and without the dummy figure. CREDITS Written by Sophie Becker Choreography by Isa Spector ABOUT THE ARTIST Sophie Becker (b. 1993, San Francisco) is a performer and actor working at the intersection of ventriloquism, theater, and experimental comedy. Her work explores voice, control, and the strangeness of human relationships through the lens of ventriloquism. With a cast of recurring characters, including her dummy, Ronnie, Sophie has performed at MoMA PS1, SculptureCenter, the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, the Rockaway Film Festival, Art Omi (Ghent), NADA (Miami), New Theater Hollywood (Los Angeles), STUK (Belgium), Haus Am Waldsee (Germany), among other venues. She was included in the 2026 exhibition, Greater New York, at MoMA PS1. Photo: Farah Lieten, courtesy of Kunstplaatz Vonk ----- 5 DANCER MEDLEY by JOYBOY ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE Five dancers blast through space to a medley of eclectic pop music exploring the confrontational effort of intimacy. This piece includes the invitation of audience participation. Made in collaboration with performers. CREDITS JoyBoy, Jess Smith, Sophia Mladineo, Miriam Hermina, Elinor Kleber Diggs. ABOUT THE ARTIST JoyBoy is a Bessie award nominated interdisciplinary performing artist, writer, and educator based in Queens, NY who creates humorously surreal, confessional, and immersive performances to explore themes surrounding identity, power dynamics, and our emotional lives. Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch Centerpiece by Liz Westbrook on Oct 9 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE Centerpiece Liz Westbrook Friday, October 9, 2026 beginning at 7:15pm Segal Theater, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. RSVP Here ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE CENTERPIECE conjures unseen memories and baroque desires of a makeshift cinematic tableau, whose figures move into and out from their own fickle facades at a moment's notice. Toiling within an uncanny spectrum of hyper-awareness and disjointed idling, dancers evoke familiar forms while breaking them apart, bumping into each other, feigning indifference, expiring and reanimating, all while quietly vying for their close up. CREDITS Performers: Alexis Vinzons, Anya Bernstein, Ben Hard, Ceridwen McCooey, Isabelle Dayton, Jack Meriwether, and Sophia Halimah Parker. Costuming: Sophie Frizzell. ABOUT THE ARTIST Liz Westbrook is a dancer, choreographer, actor and movement director from New Hampshire, based in New York City. She creates fantasy dance worlds that reflect and reference human experiences. She attended Bennington College to study movement and dance making but left before receiving a degree. Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

Watch Chaos Garden by Alex Tatarsky on Oct 9 onwards at PRELUDE Festival 2026. As a featured program of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, PRELUDE presents a unique snapshot of the contemporary New York experimental theater. By merging the critical with the creative, PRELUDE provides a space for artists to share and discover emerging practices in form, craft, and technology. Since 2003, The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center has presented the PRELUDE Festival at GC CUNY. The Martin E. Segal Theater Centre, CUNY invites you to PRELUDE 2026 for PERFORMANCE Chaos Garden Alex Tatarsky Friday, October 9, 2026 beginning at 8:15pm Segal Theater, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY This event is free and open to all, with entry on first-come first-serve. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. RSVP Here ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE For Prelude 2026, clown artist Alex Tatarsky will use the audience as test subjects to collect data on some new experiments. Possible areas of investigation include: the Garden of Eden as a story of eviction. The hauntedness of furniture. A cross country travelogue on the history of American magic. Boxed mac n cheese as a state of mind. ABOUT THE ARTIST Called “a hilarious, finely tuned absurdist” (TheaterJones) and “outrageous and profane” (NYTimes), Alex Tatarsky makes performances in the uncomfortable in-between zone of comedy, dance-theater, performance art, and deluded rant – sometimes with songs. Tatarsky experienced fleeting fame as Andy Kaufman’s daughter and used to perform as a mound of dirt. Original evening-length solo works include Americana Psychobabble (La Mama, Jacob’s Pillow), Buttplug Gnome (Gibney Dance), Untitled Freakout (The Kitchen) and the improvised project MATERIAL, featured in the Whitney Biennial. They frequently collaborate with musician Shane Riley and are currently touring their solo shows DIRT TRIP (MoMA PS1), a decomposing performance-lecture about fear of clowns and fear of compost, and Sad Boys in Harpy Land (Best of 2024 ArtForum, NYTimes, New Yorker), a hellscape bildungsroman about Tatarsky becoming convinced they are a small German boy. Upcoming: Sad Boys on tour at Hancher (Iowa City), On The Boards (Seattle), Vesper (Atlanta). Photo credit: Walter Wlodarczyk Explore more performances and conversations at PRELUDE 2026. See What's on

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An exploration of mobility, disability, & bags. PRELUDE Festival 2023 PERFORMANCE Watch Me Walk Anne Gridley Theater, Performance Art, Other English 30 minutes 6:00PM EST Thursday, October 12, 2023 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 5th Avenue, New York, NY, USA Free Entry, Open To All An exploration of mobility, disability, & bags. Content / Trigger Description: Warning: I am a cripple with a gimp rising and my walk is not a character choice. Anne Gridley is a two time Obie award-winning actor, dramaturg, and artist. As a founding member of Nature Theater of Oklahoma, she has co-created and performed in critically acclaimed works including Life & Times, Poetics: A Ballet Brut, No Dice, Romeo & Juliet, and Burt Turrido. In addition to her work with Nature Theater, Gridley has performed with Jerôme Bel, Caborca, 7 Daughters of Eve, and Big Dance, served as a Dramaturg for the Wooster Group’s production Who’s Your Dada?, and taught devised theater at Bard College. Her drawings have been shown at H.A.U. Berlin, and Mass Live Arts. B.A. Bard College; M.F.A. Columbia University. Instagram @gridlock2001 Watch Recording Explore more performances, talks and discussions at PRELUDE 2023 See What's on

In this panel discussion we explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the performing arts industry. Curated by Kenneth Collins, participants to be announced soon. PRELUDE Festival 2023 PANEL AI in Performance Kenneth Collins, Annie Dorsen, Andrew Scoville, Marianne Weems, and others Discussion English 60 minutes 6:00PM EST Friday, October 13, 2023 Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, 5th Avenue, New York, NY, USA Free Entry, Open To All In this panel discussion we explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the performing arts industry. Curated by Kenneth Collins. Participants: Andrew Scoville, Annie Dorsen, Marianne Weems, and others. Content / Trigger Description: Kenneth Collins is a transdisciplinary artist, working at the intersection of digital media, performance, cinema, and installation. He got his start as an artist in New York City working for Richard Foreman at The Ontological-Hysteric Theater in the East Village. He has since been a resident artist at Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric, Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Buffalo’s Creative Arts Initiative, and was a member of Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab. Collins is best known for his work with Temporary Distortion, a non-profit arts organization he formed in New York City in 2000 with the mission to create experimental work that is accessible to all. Temporary Distortion (named one of the “Best New York Theater companies” by TimeOut NY Magazine) has maintained its roots in downtown NYC as an invested stakeholder in the local community for over 20 years, while also performing at notable venues around the world. The group explores the tensions and overlaps existing between the practices of theatre, cinema, music, and media art. Together with Collins, they continually work across disciplines to create performances, installations, films, albums, and works for the stage that have been shown in over 25 cities in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. Academic essays discussing his work with Temporary Distortion have been published in Yale’s Theater, NYU’s The Drama Review, UCSD’s TheatreForum, Queen Mary’s Contemporary Theatre Review, American Theater Magazine, Chance Magazine, and other industry leading periodicals. His work is also discussed in the books: Performance & Media: Taxonomies for a Changing Field, Corps en Scène: L’acteur et les Technologies (Bodies on stage: Acting Confronted by Technologies), Utopii performative: Artisti Radicali ai Scenei Americane in Secolul 21 (Performative Utopias: Radical Artists on the American 21st Century Stage), Media Archaeology and Intermedial Performance: Deep Time of the Theatre, Every Leader is an Artist, Theatre Today, and the popular introduction to theatre textbook, Theatre, Brief (13th Edition). His plays and writing on the arts have been published in PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Yale’s Theater, UCSD’s TheatreForum, and Chance Magazine. Kenneth Collins is Assistant Professor of Media Arts Production in the Department of Film and Media Arts at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Annie Dorsen is a director and writer whose works explore the intersection of algorithmic art and live performance. Most recently, her piece Prometheus Firebringer was presented at Theater For a New Audience. Other algorithmic performance projects, including Infinite Sun (2018), The Great Outdoors (2017), Yesterday Tomorrow (2015), A Piece Of Work (2013) and Hello Hi There(2010), have been widely presented in the US and internationally. The script for A Piece Of Work was published by Ugly Duckling Presse, and she has contributed essays for The Drama Review, Theatre Magazine, Etcetera, Frakcija, and Performing Arts Journal (PAJ). She is the co-creator of the 2008 Broadway musical Passing Strange which she also directed. Dorsen has received a 2019 MacArthur Fellowship, a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship, and the 2014 Herb Alpert Award for the Arts in Theatre. Andrew Scoville is a director specializing in immersive layouts, technological landscapes, and hybrid-genre theater-making. He has a passion for bringing science ideas into theatrical spaces. He recently directed “Theater of the Mind” a multi-room theater/neuroscience experience by David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. He was commissioned by The New York Hall of Science to create “Escape the Planet” a family-friendly interactive STEAM experience based on the research of astronomer Dr. Moiya McTier. He has created two distinct projects with Bina48, a humanoid robot, consisting of a bust-like head and shoulders mounted on a frame, developed by Hanson Robotics. Marianne Weems is a director of theater, opera, and mixed reality performance, and artistic director of the award-winning New York-based performance and media ensemble The Builders Association. Since 1994, The Builders Association has created a significant body of work at the forefront of combining media and performance. They have created many original large-scale productions and worked with some unexpected collaborators including the architects Diller + Scofidio, The National Center for Super Computing Applications, and the South Asian arts collective motiroti. Since 1994 their productions have been presented in New York at BAM (five premieres), Lincoln Center, New York Theater Workshop, the Public Theater, St Anne’s Warehouse, the Guggenheim and Whitney Museums, and other local venues. Internationally their work has been produced at the Barbican Centre in London, Maison des Arts Paris, Melbourne Festival, the Romaeuropa Festival, the Festival Iberoamericano de Bogota, the Singapore Arts Festival, and many other venues. The company has toured globally to over 85 venues in the last 25 years (www.thebuildersassociation.org ). Weems has also worked in various creative roles with Taryn Simon, The Wooster Group, Susan Sontag, David Byrne, The V-Girls, and many others. She serves on the board of Art Matters, a modest but fierce foundation that created Visual Aids, the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, and the Arts Forward Fund. Weems is a professor in Digital Arts and New Media (DANM) and Performance, Play & Design (PPD) at the University of California, Santa Cruz. From 2008-2014 she was the head of Graduate Directing at the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University and she was the lead faculty of a Carnegie Mellon arts and technology initiative based in New York City. She is the co-author with Shannon Jackson of The Builders Association: Performance and Media in Contemporary Theater (MIT Press Fall 2015) and Art Matters: How the Culture Wars Changed America (NYU Press 2000.). Current members of the Builders Association include: Moe Angelos performer/writer, Dan Dobson sound design, James Gibbs dramaturg/writer, Larry Shea media architect, Austin Switzer video design, and Jennifer Tipton lighting design. Shannon Sindelar, Producing Director. Photo credits: Kenneth Collins. Photo courtesy of the artist. Annie Dorsen. Credit by Stephen Dodd. Andrew Scoville. Credit by Billy Bustamante. Marianne Weems. Photo courtesy of the artist. Watch Recording Explore more performances, talks and discussions at PRELUDE 2023 See What's on