Creators of Belle Epoque in Free Lincoln Center Talk

Lincoln Center Theater's Platform Series, a forum for public discussion between Lincoln Center Theater artists and interested theatergoers, continues its sixth season with pre-performance talks tomorrow (Wed., Nov. 17) with Martha Clarke and Charles L. Mee, the co-creators of the new work about Toulouse-Lautrec, Belle Epoque." Belle Epoque is part of Lincoln Center Theater's 20th Anniversary Season.

Platform Series events take place between the matinee and evening shows on Wednesdays, from 6:30pm to 7:15pm, in the lobby of the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65th Street). Admission is free and open to all; however, seating in the lobby is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis only, beginning at 6:00pm. (Speakers and schedules are subject to change. Call 212-362-7600 to confirm on the day of the event.)

Director Martha Clarke and writer Charles L. Mee, who are making their Lincoln Center Theater debuts with this production, collaborated on the Obie Award winning Vienna: Lusthaus.

Ms. Clarke's original productions include The Garden of Earthly Delights, Miracolo d'Amore, Endangered Species, An Uncertain Hour, The Hunger Artist and Vers la flamme. She directed the premiere of Christopher Hampton's Alice's Adventures Underground at London's National Theatre as well as numerous operas for The New York City Opera, the English National Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the Canadian Opera Company and the Munich Biennale. A founding member of Pilobolus Dance Theatre and Crowsnest, she has choreographed for the Nederlans Dans Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Rambert Dance Company and Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project.

Mr. Mee's plays, including Full Circle, The Trojan Women: A Love Story, Orestes, True Love, bobrauschenbergamerica, and Wintertim, have been produced throughout the United States and internationally. The world premiere of his new play, A Perfect Wedding, is opening the new Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles. His works have been produced In New York, at The Public Theater, BAM's Next Wave Festival, En Garde Arts, The Zipper Theater and New York Theatre Workshop and across the United States by the Mark Taper Forum, American Repertory Theatre in Boston, Steppenwolf Theatre, ACT in Seattle and the Actors' Theatre of Louisville. He is also the author of A Nearly Normal Life, a memoir of his struggle with polio.

Lincoln Center Theater's Platform series was introduced in the summer of 1998. Transcripts of the previous talks are available on-line at www.lct.org.