|
Bananas
by Reg e. Gaines
directed by Savion Glover
Ron Cephas Jones - Fingers
Otis Youngsmith - Snores
American
Football: Reflections on the Gulf War
by Harold Pinter
directed by Connie Grappo
Malachy Cleary
Somnia
by Kia Corthron
directed by Michael John Garcˇs
Zishan Ugurlu - Mother
Ali Eldin - Tariq, Nasra's son, 5
Peter Fattouche - Mohamed, Nasra's brother, 15
Rana Kazkaz - Doctor
Dirt
by Robert O'Hara
Directed by Damon Kiely
Matthew Mabe - Actor One
Jason Markouc - Actor Two
I'm
In Heaven
by Richard Talavera and Culture Clash
Music composed by d.j. SEVENTY
Richard Montoya directing and performing
Tigris
and Euphrates
by Tariq Ali
directed by Jeremy Cohen
Rana Kazkaz - Sorraya
Anjali Bhamani - Mona
Tamam
by Betty Shamieh
Performed and directed by Betty Shamieh
New
World Order
by Harold Pinter*
directed by Connie Grappo
Joseph Siravo - Des
Scott Wentworth - Lionel
Camel
Station
by Trevor Griffiths
directed by Jeremy Pikser
Peter Fattouche - Tarik, 13
Afaf Shawawa - Suriya, 16
Anthems
by Richard Montoya/Culture Clash
Performed and directed by Richard Montoya
The
Retreating World
by Naomi Wallace
directed by Jeremy Cohen
Dariush Kashani - an Iraqi man
Narrator/Stage
Directions: Doris Difarnicio
back
to top
Artists & Writers
Welcome You to Imagine: Iraq
Billie
Allen, theater director
Laurie Anderson, artist
Edward Asner, actor
Russell Banks, writer
Susan Bernfield, artistic director, New Georges
Oscar Brown Jr., composer/singer
Gabriel Byrne, actor
Jill Ciment, writer
Robbie Conal, artist
Renˇe Cox, photographer
Eve Ensler, playwright
Abby Epstein, theater director
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, City Lights Bookstore
Savion Glover, dancer
Ann Hamilton, artist
Luther Henderson, musician
Danny Hoch, actor
Bob Holman, poet
June Jordan, poet
Melanie Joseph, artistic director, Foundry Theater
Robin D.G. Kelley, historian/writer
Barbara Kopple, filmmaker
Tony Kushner, playwright
Ralph Lemon, dancer
Marion McClinton, theater director
Arnold Mesches, painter
Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid
Ozomatli, band
Cecilia Peck, filmmaker/actress
Neil Pepe, artistic director, Atlantic Theater
Reno, comedian
Adrienne Rich, poet
David Riker, filmmaker
Boots Riley from The Coup, hip hop artist
Mark Russell, executive director, PS122
Saul Williams, spoken word artist
Martha Wilson, artistic director, Franklin Furnace
Daniel Voll, writer
David Zeiger, filmmaker
Howard Zinn, historian/writer
welcome you to this first staged reading of IMAGINE: IRAQ
back
to top
This
piece appeared in the New York Times on November 2, 2001 in the
"On Stage and Off" Column by Jesse McKinley.
Life
in Iraq Goes On
On
Nov. 19 eight playwrights, American and British, are to present
a series of new short plays in a staged reading at Cooper Union.
That, in itself, seems like nothing special, until you consider
the evening's title, "Imagine: Iraq."
The
plays are a part of project initiated by the playwright Naomi Wallace
("One Flea Spare") to raise awareness about life in Iraq under the
decade-old United Nations and United States embargo, a topic that
has taken on a new relevance since Sept. 11. Among the playwrights
contributing work are Harold Pinter, Kia Corthron ("Breath, Boom")
and Reg E. Gaines ("Bring In da Noise, Bring In da Funk").
Despite
concern that anger about the attacks, and possible Iraqi links to
the attackers, will color some people's perception of the event,
Ms.Wallace said she felt the event needed to go forward.
"It
is such a sensitive and scary time, and I think all of us are feeling
this," Ms. Wallace said. "But I think silence is not a good food
for democracy."
The
short plays, ranging from stories of two homeless men in New York
City to that of a sister of a Palestinian suicide bomber, are also
sponsored by an organization called the Artists' Network of Refuse
and Resist!, a group of artists who, according to their Web site,
"create and promote art that contributes to a culture of resistance."
In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed
without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational
purposes only.
back
to top
|
