Aaron Landsman's EMPATHY SCHOOL / LOVE STORY Begins at Abrons Arts Center Today

Abrons Arts Center presents the New York City premieres of EMPATHY SCHOOL / LOVE STORY, a program of two monologues, with video and original music, written and directed by Aaron Landsman.

EMPATHY SCHOOL is performed by Jim Findlay, and co-created with filmmaker/composer Brent Green. Findlay is "Jim," a haunted, caustic rider who tells a story on an overnight bus ride through rural Illinois. Live music by Green and Kate Ryan, played on pump organ, guitar, drums, strings and loops, works under Findlay's portrayal, and Green's scratched filmic images. Ultimately EMPATHY SCHOOL takes audiences through landscapes of memory, a reckoning with the mentors that misguide us, and possible ways to move forward. In this piece, we are always in two places at once.

"Displacement is a thing I come back to in a lot of my shows, from 2008's Open House, to 2013-14's City Council Meeting," says Landsman. "I'm interested in the way people belong somewhere, or don't." For EMPATHY SCHOOLthe audience is on the Playhouse's stage, looking out at the empty house. LOVE STORY reverses that relationship, with audience facing the stage.

After a brief intermission comes LOVE STORY a solo play about language, voyeurism, and anonymity in New York. Frank Harts, of HBO's Leftovers and Billions, plays a sympathetic stalker who knows every street in the city, because he has walked them himself. When he watches a couple's engagement at a Greek restaurant, he becomes more and more wrapped up in their story, eavesdropping, and finally intervening. A meditation on characters that occupy the margins of any city, the changing city itself becomes rhythmic heart of this piece. LOVE STORY is set against a spare, allusive video backdrop created by Bill T. Jones' collaborator Janet Wong, with an original musical score by composer Todd Griffin.

EMPATHY SCHOOL features Jim Findlay and is written by Aaron Landsman with music and film by Brent Green and additional performances by Kate Ryan and Todd Chandler. LOVE STORY features Frank Harts and is written byAaron Landsman with video design by Janet Wong and an original score by Todd Griffin.

Performance Schedule:
Wed Apr 20 at 7:30
Thurs Apr 21 at 7:30
Fri Apr 22 at 7:30
Sat Apr 23 at 7:30
Wed Apr 27 at 7:30
Thurs Apr 28 at 7:30
Fri Apr 29 at 7:30
Sat Apr 30 at 7:30

At Abrons Arts Center is located at 466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street). F/J/M/Z trains to Delancey/Essex stop. B/D to Grand Street stop.

For more information, visit www.abronsartscenter.org/performances/aaron-landsman-empathy.html.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Aaron Landsman (writer)
Aaron Landsman is a theater artist in New York City who works with theatrical and found spaces and texts. He collaborates regularly with director Mallory Catlett and designer/performer Jim Findlay; the three created the participatory performance City Council Meeting in five US cities between 2011-2014. Aaron is a Princeton Arts Fellow, a playwright-in-residence at Abrons Arts Center the Gammage Residency Artist at ASU Gammage. He is currently developing several projects, including Perfect City, a collaboration with Lower East Side young adultscommissioned by Crossing The Line, and the multimedia theater work SQUARES, with photographer Paul Shambroom. He is a company member with Elevator Repair Service and has appeared in the work of many artists, including Richard Maxwell, Tory Vazquez, Andrea Kleine and Julia Jarcho. Find him at thinaar.com, among other places.

EMPATHY SCHOOL

Brent Green (music / video)
Brent Green - Working in the Appalachian hills of rural Pennsylvania, Brent Green is a visual artist and filmmaker. Green's films have screened, often with live musical accompaniment, in film and art settings alike at venues such as MoMA, The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Walker Art Center, The Hammer Museum, The Kitchen, The Boston MFA, The Wexner Center for the Arts, The Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Rotterdam Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival and even extending to rooftops, warehouses and galleries throughout the globe. Often, his sculptural work and large-scale installation are displayed alongside his animated films, most recently with solo exhibitions at the ASU Art Museum, Site Santa Fe, 21c/Art Without Walls, Diverseworks Houston and the Berkeley Art Museum. His artwork is represented by the Andrew Edlin Gallery, NYC. Green's work has been supported by Creative Capital, the Sundance Institute and the MAPfund. His art is in some fine permanent collections including the Progressive Collection, the Hammer Museum and MoMA.

Jim Findlay (performer)
Jim Findlay works across boundaries as a director, designer, visual artist and performer. He was a founding member of the Collapsable Giraffe and Accinosco/Cynthia Hopkins, and is a frequent collaborator with Bang on a Can, Ralph Lemon, and Ridge Theater. He worked with the Wooster Group as a company member and designer from 1994-2003. Recent productions include The Whisper Opera (Director and designer), Botanica(writer and director), David Lang's Love Fail (set and video design), Annie Dorsen's A Piece of Work (set and video design), and David T. Little/Royce Vavrek's Dog Days (set and video design). Meditation, the video installation which he created in collaboration with Ralph Lemon was recently acquired by the Walker Art Center for their permanent collection. His work has been seen at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, BAM, Arena Stage, A.R.T. and over 50 cities worldwide including Berlin, Istanbul, London, Moscow, and Paris. He is currently creating a piece for a sleeping audience, Dream of the Red Chamber, which will be presented by PS122 in Spring 2014. He has received two Obie awards, two Bessie awards, a Lucille Lortel award, and a Henry Hewes award.

LOVE STORY

Frank was born/raised in rural Illinois, a few hours West of Chicago, in Sterling Illinois. Attended Rock Falls High.

Select film credits include: Jono Oliver's NAACP nominated film, "HOME" (now on DVD and streaming), "EXPERIMENTER" directed by Michael Almereyda (now on DVD and streaming), "THE FAMILY FANG" with director Jason Bateman (premiering in 2016), and PATERSON directed by Jim Jarmusch (also premiering in 2016).

On Television: Frank recurred on season one of HBO's "The Leftovers." He currently recurs as FBI Agent Dale Christo on the new Showtime series, BILLIONS. He also recurs on the new HULU series THE PATH as FBI Agent Fredericks.

Select New York stage works includes roles originated in David Ives's "School For Lies" at CSC, Toshiki Okada's American premiere of "Enjoy," and Lincoln Center Theatre's (LCT3) production of Kirsten Greenidges's "Luck of the Irish." Frank played George Murchison on Broadway in "A Raisin In The Sun." Last Summer he played Sebastian in the Public Theatre production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," directed by Michael Greif at the Delacorte stage in NYC's Central Park. He recieved his B.F.A in Acting from Juilliard, where he was awarded the Raul Julia prize for excellence. He currently resides in New York City with his lovely wife, Shelley.

JANET WONG (projection design)
Janet Wong was born in Hong Kong and trained in Hong Kong and London. Upon graduation she joined the Berlin Ballet where she first met Bill when he was invited to choreograph on the company. In 1993, she moved to New York to pursue other interests. Ms. Wong became rehearsal director of the company in 1996 and associate artistic director in August 2006.

EMPATHY SCHOOL was originally commissioned and presented by EMPAC on a moving bus at night, with funds from MAP. LOVE STORY was presented in previous iterations at FuseBox and ASU Gammage. These performances are supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Barbara Bell Cummings Memorial Fund, Princeton University, the Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement and individuals.

Pictured: Jim Findlay. Photo by Thomas Kavanagh.

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