Romeo Castellucci, PRELUDE16 and More Set for The Segal Center's Fall 2016 Season

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, located at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, announces its Fall 2016season of public programs. The season features free public programs throughout the fall and winter, with Contemporary Theatre and performing artists from around the world.

Highlights from the Segal Center's FALL 2016 season of programs include:

Romeo Castellucci, September 27-Artist Talk + Screenings: Italian theatre-maker Romeo Castellucci visits the Segal Center to discuss his thought-provoking work. Presented in collaboration with French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF)/Crossing the Line Festival (Co-curated by Lilli Chopra, Simon Dove, and Gideon Lester), which will present Romeo Castellucci for the first time in New York City with his production of Julius Caesar. Spared Parts.

Prelude 2016, October 5, 6, 7-Festival: The thirteenth annual Prelude Festival presents artists at the forefront of contemporary New York City theatre and performance. Featuring an array of artists working in theatrical and interdisciplinary performance. The festival brings downtown experimental performance to the heart of the city, providing audiences with a survey of the current New York City moment via in-process presentations, installations, and discussions-all completely free and open to the public. www.preludenyc.org

Theatre & Performance in 1970s NYC-Discussion + Screenings: Hillary Miller's Drop Dead, October 31: Scholar and playwright Hillary Miller combines theatre history with a detailed analysis of productions in her new book, Drop Dead: Performance in Crisis, 1970s New York. Join the Segal Center in examining how the performing arts developed innovative survival responses to crisis. A panel of playwrights, directors, and historians will join in conversation. Invited are Julia Foulkes; Jessica Hagedorn; Muriel Miguel, Spiderwoman Theater; Cindy Rosenthal; Richard Wesley; and others (TBD).

A Day with Robert Lepage/Canada, November 14-Artist Talk + Screenings: Born in Quebec in 1957, Robert Lepage is one of the most versatile theater artists of his generation. Experience Lepage's work through all day screenings and an evening talk with the artist.

Heiner Müller's Discovery of America, December 19-Symposium + Screenings: Playwright, poet, and author, Heiner Müller (January 9, 1929 - December 30, 1995) is considered the most significant German dramatist of the 20th-century after Bertolt Brecht. During the 1970s, Müller traveled across the U.S.-an experience that ultimately changed the aesthetics of his work. The Segal Center's all-day symposium will trace Müller's artistic and political thinking and practice during his American journeys. International theatre artists, scholars, friends, and former students will revisit the dramatist's journey with screenings, an exhibition of documentary materials, excerpted readings of selected work, short lectures, and panel discussions.

All events are presented at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016). Events are ALWAYS FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. NO RESERVATIONS. Dates and times are listed below. All programs are subject to change. For updates, visit www.theSegalCenter.org.

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THE SEGAL CENTER 2016 FALL SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, September 20
James Harding: The Future of Performance in the Era of Global Surveillance
12:00pm, Segal Theatre | Lecture

James Harding's lecture considers the future of theatre and performance in light of the expansive collecting and marketing of data by private corporations that cater to government agencies. Whatever its earlier forms, surveillance as a contemporary socio-political phenomenon is now less concerned today with real-time observation than with the collection of processable data that can be packaged as a commodity and marketed globally as a tool for manipulation, security and political control. Followed by a dialogue with Peter Eckersall (Professor of Theatre, The CUNY Graduate Center). www.crossingthelinefestival.org

Tuesday, September 27
A Day with Romeo Castellucci
5:00pm, Segal Theatre I Artist Talk
10:00am - 4:30pm, Segal Theatre I Screenings

Italian theatre-maker Romeo Castellucci visits the Segal Center to discuss his thought-provoking work. Presented in collaboration with French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF)/Crossing the Line Festival (Co-curated by Lilli Chopra, Simon Dove, and Gideon Lester), which will present Romeo Castellucci for the first time in New York City with his production of Julius Caesar. Spared Parts. www.crossingthelinefestival.org

October 5-7, 2016
Prelude 2016: Welcome Failure
All Day, Segal Theatre + Elebash Recital Hall I Festival

Failure has long been a crucial element in experimental theater, dance, and performance of all kinds. How are New York City's progressive stage artists thinking about the ethics and applications of failure given today's economic pressures? In a highly polarizing election season, how are theater-makers engaging with broader systemic failures of national institutions and political systems? Panels, public salons, and original performances will explore these questions. In addition to this thematic program, there will be showcases of approximately 30 works in progress, scheduled to premiere in this or future seasons, from New York City artists and ensembles including I Am A Boys Choir, Christina Masciotti, Kate Benson, Kyoung's Pacific Beat, Big Dance Theater, Robert Johanson and Ilan Bachrach, and Katy Pyle. Workshops, including one with Tina Satter/Half Straddle, are also scheduled.

Monday, October 17
Quebecois Playwrights Project
6:30pm, Segal Theatre I Readings + Discussion

Join us for an evening discovering contemporary writing from Quebec, Canada. Even located so close to the U.S., productions of Canadian writers are presented regularly in Berlin, London, and Spain. In collaboration with Centre des Auteurs Dramatiques (CEAD), a Montreal-based organization that provides support for playwriting development and promotes Canadian Francophone plays and playwrights. Curated by Emmanuelle Sirois, international projects advisor, CEAD; visiting scholar 2015/2016, Segal Center.

Monday, October 24
Marie Chauvet/Haiti: Chauvet's Theatres of Revolt
6:30pm, Segal Theatre I Readings
2:00pm, Segal Theatre I Symposium

Join us for a celebration of the 100th birthday of Haitian playwright and novelist Marie Chauvet. Though best known as a novelist, Chauvet was also a playwright, and much of her prose fiction is written as dramatic dialogue. Organized by Professors Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken and Kaiama L. Glover in collaboration with the Segal Center, the program will bring together scholars, experts, and theatre artists to introduce Chauvet's work for the stage. The event is co-presented and made possible by the Henri Peyre Institute with additional support from IRADAC (Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean), GC CUNY.

Monday, October 31
Theatre & Performance in 1970s NYC: Hillary Miller's DROP DEAD
6:30pm, Segal Theatre | Discussion

11:00am, Segal Theatre | Screenings
Scholar and playwright Hillary Miller combines theatre history with a detailed analysis of productions in her new book, Drop Dead: Performance in Crisis, 1970s New York. Join the Segal Center in examining how the performing arts developed innovative survival responses to crisis. A panel of playwrights, directors, and historians will join in conversation. Invited are Julia Foulkes; Jessica Hagedorn; Muriel Miguel, Spiderwoman Theater; Cindy Rosenthal; Richard Wesley; and others (TBD).

Monday, November 7
The Legacy of Judith Malina and Julian Beck with The Living Theatre
6:30pm, Segal Theatre I Readings
10:00am, Segal Theatre I Screenings

Join us for an evening celebrating the life and work of the late Judith Malina (June 4, 1926 - April 10, 2015). With her husband and artistic partner Julian Beck (May 31, 1925 - September 14, 1985), Malina co-founded in 1947 the highly influential The Living Theatre, a radical political theatre troupe that rose to prominence in New York City and Paris during the 1950s and 60s. Together they created legendary productions (The Brig, The Connections, Paradise Now, Antigone, Mysteries and Smaller Pieces, Frankenstein) until Beck's death.

Just back from The Living Theatre's 2016 US tour, Artistic Director Brad Burgess and Associate Artistic Director Monica Hunken will perform readings as Julian Beck and Judith Malina from diaries, manifestos, essays, and letters, complied and adapted by Associate Archive Director Philip Schaffer with The Living Theatre.

Monday, November 14
A Day with Robert Lepage/Canada
7:00pm, Segal Theatre | Artist Talk
11:00am, Segal Theatre | Screenings

Born in Quebec in 1957, Robert Lepage is one of the most versatile theater artists of his generation. Lepage has presented his work at major theaters and opera houses such as The Metropolitan Opera, Opera National de Paris, Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and The National Theatre in London, and was artistic director of several institutions including Théâtre français at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Ex Machina. Experience Lepage's work through all day screenings and an evening talk with the artist.

Monday, November 21
Pig Iron Theatre Company: Celebrating Pig Iron's 20th Anniversary
6:30pm, Segal Theatre | Discussion
12:00pm, Segal Theatre | Screenings

Since 1995, Pig Iron Theatre Company has been making unprecedented, original work for audiences in its hometown of Philadelphia and beyond. Pig Iron has created over 30 original works and has toured to festivals and theatres in Poland, England, Scotland, Peru, Brazil, Ireland, Japan, Italy, Romania and Germany, among others. Following afternoon screenings of a selection of the company's productions, founders Dan Rothenberg, Dito van Reigersberg, Pig Iron artists Mimi Lien and Jenn Kidwell, and others will talk about the company's beginnings, its journey, and vision for the future in a dialogue moderated by Rebecca Rugg, Director of the Conservatory of Theater Arts, SUNY Purchase.

Monday, November 28
Contemporary Opera NYC: Talks with Artists and Producers
6:30pm, Segal Theatre I Discussion

New York City is experiencing a renaissance of contemporary opera. Artists find boundary-pushing new expressions by crossing musical genres, creating stunning visuals, and defining new narratives. Join us to explore how and why experimental theater artists successfully revive this art form, while classical opera is struggling. Artists and producers at the forefront of the contemporary opera scene will present their works and discuss the radically changing landscape of the field. Participating artists: Jecca Barry (General Manager, Beth Morrison Projects); Lisa Bielawa (Composer); M. Lamar (Composer/Performer); Aaron Siegel (Composer/Producer, Experiments in Opera); Paola Prestini (Composer/Producer/Presenter, National Sawdust); Ashley Tata (Director); and Kristin Marting (Co-producer, Prototype and Artistic Director, HERE Arts Center).

Monday, December 5
Italian Playwrights Project: Something About Lehman/Italy-with Stefano Massini
6:30pm, Segal Theatre I Artist Talk

Something About Lehman by Italian playwright Stefano Massini tells the story of the historic rise and fall of Lehman Brothers investment house. The fiction book is based on Massini's theatre plays The Lehman Trilogy, a five-hour saga that traces the legacy of the infamous banking family, beginning with their humble arrival to America in the mid-1800s and ending with their empire's eventual demise in 2008. Join us for a conversation with Stefano Massini about his work, the history of the Teatro di Milano-Teatro d'Europa in Milan, and Contemporary Theatre in Europe. Italian Playwrights Project created by Valeria Orani (Umanism NY, www.umanism.com) and Frank Hentschker (Martin Segal Theatre Center) in collaboration with Italian Cultural Institute in New York, Giorgio Van Straten, Director (http://www.iicnewyork.esteri.it/)

Monday, December 12
Feast: Yoruba Project by The Royal Court Theatre and The Young Vic
6:30pm, Segal Theatre I Reading + Discussion

The Segal Center presents a staged reading of Feast, a theatrical exploration with vibrant music and dazzling dance of the magnificent, cross-continental Yoruba culture. Followed by a discussion with Elyse Dodgson, International Director, The Royal Court Theatre. Originally produced in 2013 by the Young Vic and the Royal Court, this is the first presentation of Feast in the US. Afro-Caribbean traditions and ancestral lore come to life in this energetic work about three sisters who become divided at a crossroads on their way to a family dinner. From Nigeria in the 1700s through Brazil, Cuba, and the USA to London in 2013, the sisters survive by their spirits-spirits of courage, mischief, and incredible resilience. Feast was written by playwrights Yunior García Aguilera (Cuba), Rotimi Babatunde (Nigeria), Marcos Barbosa (Brazil), Tanya Barfield (US), and Gbolahan Obisesan (UK) and originally directed by Rufus Norris.

Monday, December 19
Heiner Müller's Discovery of America
All Day, Segal Theatre I Symposium + Screenings

Playwright, poet, and author, Heiner Müller (January 9, 1929 - December 30, 1995) is considered the most significant German dramatist of the 20th-century after Bertolt Brecht. During the 1970s, Müller traveled across the U.S.-an experience that ultimately changed the aesthetics of his work. The Segal Center's all-day symposium will trace Müller's artistic and political thinking and practice during his American journeys. International theatre artists, scholars, friends, and former students will revisit the dramatist's journey with screenings, an exhibition of documentary materials, excerpted readings of selected work, short lectures, and panel discussions. Curated by Wolfgang Storch and Klaudia Ruschkowski in collaboration with Frank Hentschker.

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The Segal Center bridges the gap between the academic and performing arts communities through dynamic public programs and digital initiatives that are free and open to all.

Home to theatre artists, scholars, students, performing arts managers, and the local and international performance communities, the Segal Center provides a supportive environment for conversation, open exchange, and the development of new ideas and new work. Year round, the Center presents a wide variety of FREE public programs which feature leading national and International Artists, scholars, and arts professionals in conversation about theatre and performance. Programs include staged readings to further the development of new and classic plays, festivals celebrating New York performance (PRELUDE) and international plays (PEN World Voices), screenings of performance works on film, artists in conversation, academic lecture series, televised seminars, symposia, and arts in education programs. In addition, the Center maintains its long-standing visiting-scholars-from-abroad program, publishes a series of highly regarded academic journals, as well as single volumes of importance (including plays in translation), all written and edited by renowned scholars. www.thesegalcenter.org.

The Graduate Center, CUNY, of which the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center is an integral part, is the doctorate-granting institution of The City University of New York (CUNY). An internationally recognized center for advanced studies and a national model for public doctoral education, the school offers more than thirty doctoral programs, as well as a number of master's programs. Many of its faculty members are among the world's leading scholars in their respective fields, and its alumni hold major positions in industry and government, as well as in academia. The Graduate Center is also home to twenty-eight interdisciplinary research centers and institutes focused on areas of compelling social, civic, cultural, and scientific concerns. Located in a landmark Fifth Avenue building, The Graduate Center has become a vital part of New York City's intellectual and cultural life with its extensive array of public lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and theatrical events. www.gc.cuny.edu.

Photo courtesy of The Young Vic and The Royal Court Theatre