Umanism and Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Present I VICINI Reading Tonight

Umanism and Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at CUNY, in association with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, present a reading of excerpts of Fausto Paravidino's I Vicini (Neighbors) as part of the Italian Playwrights Project Wednesday, September 21 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York (686 Park Avenue, between 68th and 69th Avenue). The reading is in Italian with English written translation by Jane House. The event free and open to the public.

After being a guest of the first edition of Italian Playwrights Project, Paravidino returns to New York to embark on a new endeavor, a play to be written and staged during the second half of 2017. His writing process usually originates with one scene, with actors directly testing the play over the course of a workshop.

"I Vicini (Neighbors)," says playwright Fausto Paravidino, "is a piece about our fears. About our imaginary fears, about our real fears. About our real fears that are often our imaginary fears. In a rarefied and suspended atmosphere, two young couples meet and clash between the domestic walls."

Umanism is company dedicated to the promotion and support of contemporary Italian culture and its professionals in New York. A movement, an open platform connecting Italy to the USA recognizing and expanding the creative potential of projects by Italian artists, supporting them in each step of the production in the larger and more challenging context of New York. Go to www.umanism.com.

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. For more information, visit www.theSegalCenter.org.

Fausto Paravidino, an actor, director, and playwright, was born in Genova, grew up in a small village in northern Italy, and now lives in Rome. His plays include Trinciapollo, Gabriele, 2 Fratelli, La Malattia della Famiglia M, Natura Morta in un Fosso, Peanuts (Connections, National Theatre, London), Genoa 01 (Royal Court Theatre, London), Morbid, Exit, Il Caso B, Il Diario di Mariapia, I Vicini (Thèatre National du Bretange, France), Il Macello di Giobbe (Teatro Valle Occupato), and They Were in My Field (Royal Court Theatre). Several of his plays were broadcast on Italian public radio. The movie he wrote and directed, Texas, was presented at the 2005 Venice film festival.