Professor Drucilla Cornell Leads Post-Show Discussion at Theatre 167's PIRIRA Tonight

Theatre 167 has announced that tonight, November 2, 2013 at 8 p.m., Professor Drucilla Cornell, author of The Dignity Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, will attend the performance of PIRIRA and lead a post-show discussion.

In her work, Professor Cornell has explored areas such as ethical humanism aimed at reviving black existentialism and radical constitutionalism to counter dominating historicism, imperialism and neo-colonialism. She has also researched female and racial subordination and liberalism post-9/11, particularly in the face of wars in regions such as Afghanistan and Iraq. And she is co-director of the uBuntu Project, established in 1983, an organization that promotes the status and importance of indigenous values and ideals across various areas of society.

Currently she is Professor of Political Science, Comparative Literature, and Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College at the University of London, and an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

She has written over 20 books, including most recently The Dignity Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and uBuntu and the Law: African Ideals and Postapartheid Jurisprudence.

About Pirira: Two worlds, 7000 miles apart, overlap on a single stage in this intimate play by J.Stephen Brantley, directed by Ari Laura Kreith.

July 20, 2011. As the African nation Malawi erupts in riots, American aid workers Jack and Ericka take shelter in the storage room of a struggling NGO. Half a world away, Malawian student Gilbert and his gay co-worker Chad begin another day in the back room of a Manhattan florist. By the day's end, they discover their lives are inextricably linked across continents, language, and time.

Starring: Adrian Baidoo*, J.Stephen Brantley*, Todd Flaherty, and Flor De Liz Perez* (*Appearing courtesy AEA)

PIRIRA runs through November 10, Thurs-Sat at 8pm; Sun at 3pm at The Chain Theatre in Long Island City, 21-28 45th Road. (Subway: 7/E/M/G to Court Sq. - just 1 stop from Manhattan on the E). Ticket Storefront: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/1751 Tickets $18 General Admission, $16 Students/Seniors.

Born in a community that speaks 167 languages, Theatre 167 is a multicultural, multilingual ensemble dedicated to creating imaginative, provocative and theatrical plays that build bridges between and among our diverse communities. For more information, see www.theatre167.org.

Pictured: Flor De Liz Perez, Adrian Baidoo, and J.Stephen Brantley in PIRIRA. Photo Credit: Joel Weber.

Theatre 167's PIRIRA. A new play opening 10/17/13 in NYC from J.Stephen Brantley on Vimeo.