Epic Theatre Announces Talk-Back Series

By: Jun. 10, 2008
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Epic Theatre Ensemble has announced the schedule for its new post-show talk-back series, "Epic Forum Discussions," to follow performances of the New York Premiere of Palace of the End by Judith Thompson, 2008 winner of the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for playwriting.  "Epic Forum Discussions" will include on-stage panels comprised of members of the cast and creative team along with special guest speakers including Sinan Antoon (author of I'jam: An Iraqi Rhapsody), Haider Hamsa (This American Life; Talk to an Iraqi), Ari Melber (The Nation; The Huffington Post) and George Andreopoulos (Director, Center for International Human Rights), among others.

"Epic Forum Discussions" are designed to place a theatrical experience at the center of a larger public dialogue about vital social issues.  Following select performances of all Epic Theatre Ensemble productions, guest speakers join company members onstage to discuss key questions and ideas that emerge with audiences.

"Epic Forum Discussions" for Palace of the End are as follows:

Friday, June 13: Guest panelists include Gabriel Cwilich, Professor of Physics, Yeshiva University and Evan Resnick, Professor of Political Science, Yeshiva University

Tuesday, June 17:  The guest speaker will be David Berreby, author of Us and Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind

Wednesday evening, June 18:  Guest panelists include Karen Hornick and Sharon Friedman from Gallatin School of Individualized Study, NYU

Thursday, June 19: Guest panelists include Bruce Jones, Director, NYU Center on International Cooperation and Sinan Antoon, author of I'jam: An Iraqi Rhapsody.   Mr. Antoon is a poet, novelist, and translator who returned to his native Baghdad in 2003 as a member of InCounter Productions to co-direct/produce the documentary "About Baghdad" about the lives of Iraqis in a post-Saddam occupied Iraq. http://www.sinaan.com/Media-Press.html

Friday, June 20:  Guest panelists include Priscilla Murolo, Professor of Women's History, Sarah Lawrence College and Ben Chitty, Veterans for Peace

Saturday evening, June 21:  Guest speaker will be George Andreopoulos, Director, Center for International Human Rights, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York.

Wednesday evening, June 25:  Guest panelists include Eric Alterman, author of What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News and The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America and Jenny Heinz, Granny Peace Brigade

Thursday, June 26:  The guest panelist will be Haider Hamsa, Showtime's "This American Life:  Talk to an Iraqi."  Mr. Hamsa is a son of an Iraqi diplomat who covered Saddam Hussein's trial for ABC News. He plans to publish some of Saddam's journals and poetry

Friday, June 27: The guest panelist will be Belinda Cooper, World Policy Institute

Saturday evening, June 28: The guest panelist will be Ari Melber, The Nation, The Huffington Post

Sunday afternoon, June 29:  Haider Hamsa, This American Life, Talk to an Iraqi, returns as guest panelist

Tuesday, July 1:  The guest panelist will be Elazar Barkan, Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Thursday, July 3:  Guest panelists include Oz Frankel, Assistant Professor, Committee on Historical Studies, New School for Social Research and Alyson Cole, Professor of Political Science, Queens College/CUNY

Saturday evening, June 28: The guest panelist will be Julian Zelizer, Princeton University, author of On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000

Wednesday evening, July 9: Guest panelists include Dan Polin and Elyse Steinberg of Great Projects, producers of the PBS documentary "The Trial of Saddam Hussein"

Friday July 11:  Guest panelist will be Kani Xulam, Director of The American Kurdish Information Network

Saturday evening, July 12:  Guest panelists include Lawrence Hirschfeld, Professor of Anthropology and Psychology, New School University and Mervat Hatem, Professor of Political Science at Howard University

Additional guest panelists not yet scheduled include Fawaz Gerges, Sarah Lawrence College, author of Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy; Michael S. Foley, College of Staten Island, Department of History; Sandi Cooper, College of Staten Island/ CUNY Graduate Center Department of History; Sally Eberhardt, Theatres Against War; Frida Berrigan, War Resisters League, Witness Against Torture and Sara Batmanglich, Program Officer for Prevention Studies, NYU Center on International Cooperation.

Commissioned and developed by Epic Theatre Ensemble, Palace of the End is the winner of this year's prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for playwriting.  With direction by Daniella Topol, the three-person cast of Palace of the End features Teri Lamm (The Iceman Cometh with Kevin Spacey), Heather Raffo (9 Parts of Desire) and Rocco Sisto (Ipheginia 2.0).   

Palace of the End  is an incendiary and haunting triptych of monologues that intimately explores the experiences of three key figures of the Middle East crisis: Lynndie England (Lamm), the U.S. soldier who was convicted of abusing detainees at Baghdad's Alu Gharib prison; David Kelly (Sisto), the British weapons inspector who allegedly committed suicide after being involved in a government scandal and Nehrjas Al Saffarh (Raffo), a member of the Communist Party of Iraq who suffered under Saddham Hussein's regime and died when the Americans bombed her home during the initial Gulf War.

Preview performances begin Wednesday, June 11, 2008 for a limited engagement through July 13, 2008 at Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons.  Opening Night is set for Monday, June 23, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are $50 and may be purchased at the Ticket Central Box Office (416 West 42nd Street), or online at www.ticketcentral.com.

Epic Theatre Ensemble is a not for profit, artist-run company producing a wide range of in-depth education programs, Off Broadway productions, new play workshops, and community forums throughout New York City.  The company's first official day of operation was September 11, 2001, but rather than be deterred by world events, Epic's founders were further galvanized to create a company that embraces theatre as a way to empower diverse voices and inspire social change.  Epic's highly innovative education programs in public schools throughout New York and the Northeast, as well as their efforts to bring first-time theatergoers to their Off Broadway productions and new play workshops have garnered the company its most rapid acclaim.  Recent successes include the sold-out premiere of Kate Fodor's acclaimed Hannah & Martin (starring David Strathairn) and the award-winning world premiere of Nilaja Sun's No Child…, which is just completing an acclaimed national tour.  For more information on Epic Theatre Ensemble, please visit www.epictheatrectr.org.



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