Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program Hosts International Convening on Cultural Diplomacy

Gathering dovetails with the historic residency of Baghdad University faculty and students at Georgetown, including free public performances of the first-ever Arabic-language adaptation of “9 Parts of Desire”

Washington, D.C. — The Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program will host an invited convening on Global Performance, Civic Imagination, and Cultural Diplomacy June 14-16, 2012 at the Davis Performing Arts Center. This dynamic gathering, supported by the Georgetown University Reflective Engagement in the Public Interest Grant, will bring together more than 50 theater artists, policymakers, government officials, activists, cultural leaders, educators, journalists, and scholars from around the world, as well as Georgetown University faculty, students, and alumni.

Led by Georgetown’s Derek Goldman, Artistic Director of the Davis Performing Arts Center and Professor of Theater and Performance Studies, and Cynthia P. Schneider, Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, the three-day invited convening will explore how to maximize the potential of theater and performance in the context of international challenges, and how to bridge the gap between the worlds of foreign policy and global performance.

Invited convening participants will include leaders from the theater and foreign policy worlds, such as Nicolas Kent, long-time Director of the Tricycle Theater in the UK; Shahid Nadeem, Founder and Director of Ajoka Theatre, Lahore, Pakistan; Ping Chong, renowned writer/director/creator from New York; Prof. Cynthia Cohen, Director of the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts at Brandeis University and editor of the vital “Acting Together on the World Stage” anthologies and documentary; Marvin Carlson, Distinguished Professor and renowned scholar on theater in the Arabic World; Soyini Madison, Professor at Northwestern University and Senior Fulbright Scholar, and performance ethnographer, Ghana; representatives from organizations including Theatre Without Borders; Americans for the Arts; Animating Democracy; the National Endowment for the Arts; The British Council; The Southbank Centre, the largest single-run arts center in the world; the US State Department; La Mama; as well as leading artists from Iraq, Israel, the UK, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Norway, and others. They will also be joined by leading representatives from foreign policy, such as Haleh Esfandiari of the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Alyse Nelson, CEO of Vital Voices, as well as major arts organizations in DC and beyond, including The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Arena Stage, Theater J, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, CenterStage, Hybrid Theatre Works, Battery Dance Company, and more.

Professor Derek Goldman says, “This extraordinary convening is part of our ongoing initiative which seeks to build on Georgetown’s distinctive strengths in international relations and theatrical performance to develop new interdisciplinary strategies to advance peace, social justice, and increased understanding and collaboration across peoples and cultures. We are deeply honored that so many leading artists, scholars, activists, and policymakers have made it a priority to be part of the conversation.”

Ambassador Cynthia Schneider adds, “The groundbreaking work around the world in theater and performance, tackling issues of conflict, extremism, censorship, and repression, as well as reconciliation and peacemaking usually occurs in a policy vacuum. We hope to begin to change that paradigm by bringing leaders in policy and in theater and performance together here at Georgetown University, where students pursue both fields and seek ways to integrate them.”

The gathering will coincide with a historic, nearly month-long residency on campus with faculty and students from Baghdad University, which includes public performances of a world premiere Iraqi Arabic adaptation of Iraqi-American playwright Heather Raffo’s “9 Parts of Desire” on June 14 and 16 at 8 p.m. in the Davis Performing Arts Center’s Devine Studio Theatre. An open dress rehearsal will also be held on Wednesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. Adapted and directed by Waleed Shamil, Assistant Professor at Baghdad University’s Department of Theater Arts, “9 Parts of Desire” offers a portrait of the extraordinary (and ordinary) lives of a cross-section of Iraqi women: a sexy painter, a radical Communist, doctors, exiles, wives, and lovers. The work delves into the many conflicting aspects of what it means to be a woman in the age-old war zone that is Iraq. Iraqi actress Layla Mohammed will perform the new adaptation in Arabic with English supertitles. The performances of “9 Parts of Desire” are free, but ticketed, and reservations can be made at performingarts.georgetown.edu. Seating is limited, and tickets for the June 14 performance are currently unavailable.

As part of the extended residency, the delegation from Baghdad University will also travel with a delegation from Georgetown University to New York City, where the Arabic adaptation of “9 Parts of Desire” will also be presented by Hybrid Theatre Works at Alwan for the Arts on June 18, and to the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) National Conference, “Model the Movement,” in Boston to participate as speakers and attendees June 21-23.

About the Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program

The Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program integrate creative and critical inquiry, emphasizing artistic excellence, interdisciplinary learning, a commitment to social justice, and the spirit of collaboration. With a dynamic major in Theater and Performance Studies, the Program features a nationally recognized faculty, including leading scholars/artists, and many of the region’s leading professional theater practitioners. One of the country’s only undergraduate programs in Theater and Performance Studies, this fast-growing program has rapidly attracted significant national attention for its distinctive curriculum, reflecting the political and international character of Georgetown, and for its high-quality, cutting-edge student production seasons. Through the Davis Center, the Program foregrounds new work development, classics re-visioned, interdisciplinary programming, and collaboration across faculty, students, and guest artists.

Over the past five years, the program and the Davis Center have been increasingly engaged with global performance, including curricular development and coursework in areas such as cross-cultural performance, cultural diplomacy, civic theater, peace-building, political theater, and performance and social change. In addition to its multiple residencies by Iraqi-American playwright/performer Heather Raffo, the program has hosted productions and transformative residencies from Belarus Free Theater, Dah Teatar from Belgrade, Ping Chong & Company’s “Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo,” civic theatre-maker Michael Rohd and Sojourn Theatre, Synetic Theater, and others. Faculty and students have also been invited to represent the US with their work in international settings such as the UNESCO/ITI World Festival of Theater Schools in Peru, as well as the ITI World Congress in China. http://performingarts.georgetown.edu

June 14 and 16 convening sessions will be broadcast on #NEWPLAY TV, an open-source, live-streaming project administered by HowlRound.com / Center for the Theater Commons. People can watch by visiting newplaytv.info or on a smartphone through the mobile site at http://mobile.livestream.com/newplay, and can follow and use hashtag #newplay on Twitter to participate in a discussion about the convening.

Convening events and participants include the following:
(subject to change)

THURSDAY, JUNE 14

Session 1: DC: A Laboratory for Global Performance and Engagement
moderated by DEREK GOLDMAN (Artistic Director, Davis Performing Arts Center, and Professor, Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University)

ALICIA ADAMS (Vice President for International Programming, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts)
MICHAEL DOVE (Artistic Director, Forum Theatre)
ADRIEN-ALICE HANSEL (Literary Director, Studio Theatre)
CHRIS JENNINGS (Managing Director, Shakespeare Theatre Company)
SHIRLEY SEROTSKY (Director of Literary and Public Programs, Theater J)
ANDY SHALLAL (Founding Owner, Busboys and Poets; Co-Founder, The Peace Cafe)
DAVID SNIDER (Director of Artistic Programming, Arena Stage)
MIRIAM WEISFELD (Director of Artistic Development, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company)
Commentator: PETER MARKS (The Washington Post)

Session 2: The Local/National/Global Continuum
moderated by DANIEL BANKS (Co-Director, Theatre Without Borders; Co-Director of DNAWORKS; Faculty, M.A. in Applied Theatre, City University of New York)

CHRISTINE EVANS (Australian Playwright; Assistant Professor, Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University)
JONATHAN HOLLANDER (Artistic Director, Battery Dance Company)
PAM KORZA (Co-Director, Animating Democracy (Americans for the Arts)
JENNIFER NELSON (Director of Special Programming, Ford’s Theatre; Adjunct Professor, Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University)
Commentator: DIANE RAGSDALE (former Program Officer, Performing Arts, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation)

Session 3: Global Theater Meets Global Politics
moderated by CYNTHIA P. SCHNEIDER (Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University)

Presentation:
SHAHID NADEEM (Pakistani Playwright and Director)
Roundtable:
NICHOLAS CULL (Professor of Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California)
NICOLAS KENT (Director, The Great Game; former Artistic Director, Tricycle Theatre)
SUSAN LOEWENBERG (Producing Director, LA Theatre Works)
SHARON MEMIS (Director, British Council)
Commentator: ALYSE NELSON (President and CEO, Vital Voices)

PUBLIC PERFORMANCE: 8 p.m.
A new Iraqi Arabic adaptation of “9 Parts of Desire” by Heather Raffo
Translated and directed by Waleed Shamil
Iraqi actress Layla Mohammed performs this new Arabic-language adaptation of Heather Raffo’s acclaimed play in conjunction with a historic residency of delegates from Baghdad University at Georgetown University. The work explores the extraordinary (and ordinary) lives of a whole cross-section of Iraqi women.

DAVIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, DEVINE STUDIO THEATRE
FREE, BUT TICKETED. Visit performingarts.georgetown.edu.
Performed in Arabic with English supertitles.
Post-show discussion with artists
Reception to follow

FRIDAY, JUNE 15

Session 4: Opportunities and Challenges in the Arab and Muslim World
moderated by CYNTHIA P. SCHNEIDER (Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University)

Presentation:
MARVIN CARLSON (Distinguished Professor of Theatre, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies, City University of New York)
Roundtable:
JJ EL-FAR and TRACY FRANCIS (Co-Directors, Hybrid Theatre Works)
BOAZ GAON (Israeli Playwright)
RUBÉN POLENDO (Artistic Director, Theater Mitu; Theater Program Director, NYU – Abu Dhabi)
WALEED SHAMIL (Assistant Professor, Baghdad University; Adaptor/Director, 9 Parts of Desire)
TORANGE YEGHIAZARIAN (Artistic Director, Golden Thread Productions)
Commentators: HALEH ESFANDIARI (Director of the Middle East Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars) and NADIA OWEIDAT (DPhil Candidate, Arab and Islamic Studies, Oxford University; former Analyst, RAND Corporation)

Session 5: Opportunities and Challenges in Africa
moderated by ROBERTA LEVITOW (Co-Founder, Theatre Without Borders)

Presentation:
PING CHONG (Artistic Director, Ping Chong & Company) Roundtable:
BELAYNEH ABUNE (Professor, Addis Ababa University)
DANIEL BANKS (Co-Director, Theatre Without Borders; Co-Director of DNAWORKS; Faculty, M.A. in Applied Theatre, City University of New York)
CAROLE BRZOZOWSKI (University Arts Presenter, Syracuse University)
D. SOYINI MADISON (Chair and Professor, Department of Performance Studies, and Affiliate Faculty, Anthropology and African Studies, Northwestern University)

Session 6: The Next Generation: Curricular Approaches
moderated by DEREK GOLDMAN (Artistic Director, Davis Performing Arts Center, and Professor, Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University)

Presentation:
EMMA CLARK (School of Foreign Service and Theater and Performance Studies, Class of 2013, Georgetown University)
Roundtable:
SHILOH KRUPAR (Assistant Professor, Culture and Politics, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University)
ERWIN MAAS (Director of Performing Arts, Netherlands Cultural Services USA)
JOSEPH MEGEL (Faculty Artist in Residence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Co-Artistic Director, StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance)
JUANITA ROCKWELL (Founding Director, MFA in Theatre, Towson University)
MAYA ROTH (Director and Associate Professor, Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University)
Commentator: JOHN VOLL (Professor of Islamic History and Associate Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University)

Session 7: Making it Happen: Partnerships and Models
moderated by DEREK GOLDMAN (Artistic Director, Davis Performing Arts Center, and Professor, Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University) and CYNTHIA P. SCHNEIDER (Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University)

TOBIAS BIANCONE (Director General, International Theatre Institute)
CYNTHIA COHEN (Director of the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts, Brandeis University)
TODD LESTER (Executive Director, Global Arts Corps)
ROBERTA LEVITOW (Co-Founder, Theatre Without Borders)
JOANNA SHERMAN (Artistic Director, Bond Street Theatre

SATURDAY, JUNE 16

Morning Closing Session
moderated by DEREK GOLDMAN (Artistic Director, Davis Performing Arts Center, and Professor, Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University) and CYNTHIA P. SCHNEIDER (Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University)

PUBLIC PERFORMANCE: 8 p.m.
A new Iraqi Arabic adaptation of 9 Parts of Desire by Heather Raffo
Translated and directed by Waleed Shamil
Iraqi actress Layla Mohammed performs this new Arabic-language adaptation of Heather Raffo’s acclaimed play in conjunction with a historic residency of delegates from Baghdad University at Georgetown University. The work explores the extraordinary (and ordinary) lives of a whole cross-section of Iraqi women.

DAVIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, DEVINE STUDIO THEATRE
FREE, BUT TICKETED. Visit performingarts.georgetown.edu.
Performed in Arabic with English supertitles.

Media contact:
Laura Mertens
lmm236@georgetown.edu
202-687-6933