McCarter Announces Public Reading Of THE MIGRATION PLAYS

Continuing McCarter's tradition of producing timely, socially relevant work that engages with the central questions of our culture, McCarter has partnered with Princeton University's Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS) on The Migration Plays: a new initiative focusing on the nature of migration, how it is represented culturally, and the ways in which it shapes the world around us.

McCarter has commissioned five playwrights-Adam Gwon, Martyna Majok, Heather Raffo, Mfoniso Udofia, and Karen Zacarías-to write a series of short plays inspired by the research and programming of the PIIRS Migration Lab and its Mellon funded Sawyer Seminar, "Global Migration: The Humanities and Social Sciences in Dialogue." Since the spring of 2018, these five playwrights have engaged with the Migrations Lab by attending seminars and symposia, meeting with scholars, and exploring the Princeton campus to create pieces with unique and personal perspectives on migration. The Migration Plays will be directed by Elena Araoz, a noted theatre/opera director currently engaged as a lecturer in theater at Princeton University.

A public reading of these five short plays will take place on Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. at McCarter Theatre Center on the Matthews Stage, followed by a panel discussion. This event will be free and open to the public, with reservations required. Reserve Tickets here.

About The Migration Plays, McCarter Artistic Director Emily Mann said "McCarter is immensely proud of its work with PIIRS and The Migration Lab. A play is an immediate encounter with the lives of others, something that is difficult to glean from a photo or a news article. The triumphs, the decisions, the difficulties faced in everyday life are things with which we can all relate, and when those aspects are placed directly in front of you by another human being on stage, that immediacy can spark a whole world of new discussions, compassion, and empathy."

Immigration is a subject with which all five commissioned playwrights are intimately familiar, including Heather Raffo, who says "migration is a very personal subject to me. The idea of somebody starting in one home and ending up in another part of the world is something I'm very familiar with because I had over one hundred relatives living in Iraq at the start of the war in 2003 - I now have just two cousins left in the country. My family have fled as refugees and immigrants to places like New Zealand, Germany, Florida...so what it means to be a refugee and the many different roads that takes is something I am continually exploring."

Professor of Comparative Literature, Cotsen Professor in the Humanities, and faculty head of the PIIRS Migration Lab Sandra Bermann added: "Migration is an immense issue for our generation, and the generation we are teaching. Migration is in many ways the human face of globalization, and our work attempts to bring our many campus disciplines together with the broader Princeton community to consider it more closely. When searching for collaborative partners, it was an easy decision to reach out to Emily Mann and the McCarter to partner on commissioning these plays. We look forward now to experiencing these works first hand."

For more, including artist bios and background information, visit mccarter.org.

The Migration Plays is presented in part thanks to the partnership and support of Princeton University's Lewis Center for the Arts, The Princeton Art Museum, The Humanities Council, and The University Center for Human Values.

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, recommendations, or conclusions expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

The Sawyer Seminar, "Global Migration: The Humanities and Social Sciences in Dialogue," is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The commissioning and public reading of The Migration Plays are part of the PIIRS Migration Lab. For more information, visit migration.princeton.edu.

The Migration Plays will be presented at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 14 in the Matthews Theatre. This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Reservations may be made online at mccarter.org, by phone at (609) 258-2787, or in person at the McCarter Ticket Office, located at 91 University Place in Princeton.

McCarter Theatre Center's mission is to create world-class theater and present the finest performing artists for the engagement, education, and entertainment to the community. Under the artistic leadership of award-winning playwright and director Emily Mann and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, McCarter produces a vibrant six-play Theater Series each season. Winner of the 1994 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, world premieres include Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013 Tony - Best Play); Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays; Emily Mann's Having Our Say; and Danai Gurira's The Convert. Other works which later moved to Broadway include Brian Friel's Translations, Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics (Pulitzer Prize), and Frank McGuinness' translation of Electra. Through the leadership of Special Programming Director William W. Lockwood, McCarter brings the best artists from around the world to Princeton, New Jersey, including upcoming visits from Angelique Kidjo, Esperanza Spalding, David Sedaris, and many more. Education and outreach efforts serve tens of thousands through student matinees, in-school residencies, and adult education classes. McCarter is supported by contributions from Princeton University, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, corporations, foundations, and from over 2,000 individuals. More at mccarter.org.

PIIRS promotes research, learning and dialogue on issues of global importance, and sponsors programs and activities aimed at advancing knowledge of world regions and global issues. Among these are regional studies' certificate programs, global and exploration seminars, undergraduate and graduate fellows programs, the Fung Global Fellows program, and more. The Migration Lab brings a wide range of scholarly expertise to bear upon migration issues. It facilitates a multidisciplinary discussion that can educate and inform, and where possible, provide new frameworks for mitigating conflict and inequities. Its public series for 2018-19, funded through a Mellon Sawyer Seminar and entitled "Global Migration: The Humanities and Social Sciences in Dialogue," brings together Princeton University faculty from a wide range of disciplines, along with visiting scholars from the United States and around the world in lectures, conferences, exhibitions and commissioned theatre works.

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