BFA Acting Program At Pace University's School Of Performing Arts Debuts New Work With Alumnus And Emerging Writer, Keelay Gipson

The BFA Acting program in the School of Performing Arts at Pace University has produced a new work with alumnus and emerging writer, Keelay Gipson.

"Imagine Sisyphus Happy" is a play that is both a love letter to the theater and one that demands more of the industry. Following a company of theater-makers as they helm a new piece, Gipson portrays the ways in which theater can be both a site of divine inspiration and one of oppression and inequity. His sensibility as a writer combines the cosmic viewpoint of a poet with the passionate drive of an activist - a combination that makes him hugely inspiring as a collaborator.

In addition to developing this new work, it has been a special opportunity to bring Gipson back to Pace University's School of Performing Arts, housed in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, as a professional mentor and playwright. He earned a BFA in Musical Theater, and while a student, he developed his skills as a writer and director. The uniqueness of this collaboration is not lost on him: "I didn't go to Pace for writing, and if you would have told me while I was there that I would be making my living as a playwright, I wouldn't have known what to say. Pace is where I came into my own and began dedicating my life to theater. It's inspiring to look back and see where you came from, and, in turn, give the students a vision of what their futures might look like should they continue on their path," said Keelay Gibson.

Director Kevin Hourigan adds, "The opportunity to work with Pace undergraduate actors feels like the perfect context in which to workshop this play - which is very much about artistic process. We helmed this show in collaboration with the company of actors. Their extraordinary contributions have left indelible impressions on the final script. We are very excited to share the work of this very talented company."

Keelay Gipson is a multi-disciplinary artist, activist, teaching artist, and award-winning playwright whose plays include: #NewSlaves; CRH, or the placenta play (O'Neill Semi- Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist, AADA Main Stage Live!); What I Tell You in the Dark (Premiere Stages Finalist); and Mary/Stuart, a dramatic queering of friederich schiller's classic play (BAM Next Wave Festival, partnership with Wendy's Subway and Lambda Literary). He is the recipient of the Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists, as well as writing fellowships with Lambda Literary, The Amoralists, Page 73 and the Dramatist Guild Foundation. He has held residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Cultural Affairs Department of the City of New York and the Administration of Children's Services of the City of New York. His work has been seen/developed at the Wild Project, Poetic Theater Productions, HERE Arts Center, 133rd Street Arts Center, The Theater at Alvin Ailey, Tom Noonan's Paradise Factory, Pace University, Planet Connections Theater Festivity, The University of Houston, The National Black Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights' Theater, Classical Theater of Harlem, and New York Theatre Workshop. He is published in The Best American Short Plays Anthology by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books.

Kevin Hourigan is a director of plays, opera, music, and devised work. Some of his credits include: Cenerentola (Curtis Opera Theater); Talk to me about Shame (NYFringe and at the Syrena Theatre in Warsaw, Poland); Farmed by Trevor Bachman (Fresh Ground Pepper); Blood Wedding, The Merchant of Venice, The Hour of Great Mercy by Miranda Rose Hall, and Tiny by Sarah B. Mantell (Yale School of Drama); Lake Kelsey by Dylan Frederick, I'm with you in Rockland, a devised work based on Howl (Yale Cabaret); Sweeney Todd (Performing Arts Institute); Gentlemen of Kentucky by Thomas Daniel Valls (Dixon Place); and Magellanica by A. J. Ditty (Access Theater). He has directed workshops and readings for writers including Craig Lucas, Adam Rapp, Diana Oh, Kia Corthron, Brendan Pelsue, and others. As an assistant/associate director, Kevin has worked with directors Rachel Chavkin, Nicky Silver, Christine Jones, Jackson Gay, John Jesurun, Laura Savia, and Mike Donahue.

Hourigan is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where he was the artistic director of the Yale Cabaret's 2016-2017 season, and has his BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Runs:

April 18-28, 2018

Schaeberle Theater
41 Park Row, 10th Floor
New York, NY

General admission tickets are $15.00 each; students are $5.00. Tickets available at:

https://imaginesisyphuspace.brownpapertickets.com.

Performances:
Wednesday, 4/18 at 7:30pm
Thursday, 4/19 at 7:30pm
Friday, 4/20 at 7:30pm
Saturday, 4/21 at 2:00pm
Saturday, 4/21 at 7:30pm
Sunday, 4/22 at 2:00pm
Thursday, 4/26 at 7:30pm
Friday, 4/27 at 7:30pm
Saturday, 4/28 at 2:00pm
Saturday, 4/28 at 7:30pm

About Dyson College of Arts and Sciences: Pace University's liberal arts college, Dyson College offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as many courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements. The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.

About Pace University: Since 1906, Pace has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in Lower Manhattan and Westchester County, NY, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions, School of Education, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. A 2017 study by the Equality of Opportunity Project ranks Pace University first in the nation among four-year private institutions for upward economic mobility based on students who enter college at the bottom fifth of the income distribution and end up in the top fifth. www.pace.edu

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