The Gerald W. Lynch Theater Presents IL FURIOSO: The Birth of Modern Justice With Drums 11/18-22

The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College presents the second show of the Fall 2009 Season The Art of Justice Series, which integrates the performing arts and issues on justice, IL FURIOSO: THE BIRTH OF MODERN JUSTICE WITH DRUMS, running from November 18-22, 2009 at 8pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Avenue, NYC. Admission is $10 (CUNY Students $5). For tickets, call the Communication and Theater Arts department at 212-237-8363.

This season the Gerald W. Lynch Theater launches a new JustIce Theatre Festival, which showcases new plays that address themes of justice. The theme for Fall 2009 is FLESH & BLOOD: Justice and the Family.

IL FURIOSO: THE BIRTH OF MODERN JUSTICE, a dual language adaptation of Aeschylus' Eumenides with drums, is directed by Seth Baumrin and presented by John Jay's Department of Communication & Theatre Arts.

IL FURIOSO uses drumming, movement theatre, and Aeschylus' classical text, with a new bilingual translation spoken in English and Spanish, to dig up the roots of justice, from bloody revenge to fair trail in multi-tribal Athens. IL FURIOSO focuses on the Athens that Aeschylus lived in and how that Athens has meaning today, like classical Athens the comtemporary world is in need of a rigorous but compassionate system of justIce To replace cyclical revenge killing, a stubborn form of justice from the ancient world that persists today. Orestes has killed his mother and is hunted down by the Furies, demonic demigods who brutally punish the guilty, but Athena intervenes and gives Orestes a trial by an Athenian jury. The performance also addresses historical circumstances, demonstrating through various African, Persian, and Spanish drumming and visual elements that Athens was the cradle of the Occident in its own time.

Seth Baumrin (Director) Assistant Professor, John Jay College. Baumrin has also directed over 60 theatre and opera productions in New York and internationally, including Life is A Dream. Chamizal Siglo D'Oro Festival. Juarez, Mexico/El Paso, TX, Mother; Knot, (co-author). An Afro-Caribbean experiment. Scenekuntsfestival 96, Århus, DK, The Member of the Wedding, at the Amphitheatre, Five Moon Theatre, Martha's Vineyard, MA, and Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman and Darius Milhaud's Medée.

Since opening its doors in 1988, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater has been an invaluable cultural resource for John Jay College and the larger New York City community. Under the new direction of Executive Director Shannon R. Mayers, the Theater is dedicated to the creation and presentation of performing arts programming of all disciplines with a special focus on how the artistic imagination can shed light on the many perceptions of justice in our society.

About John Jay College of Criminal Justice: An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in servIce To society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu.

For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu/theater.php.

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