Martin E. Segal Theatre Center to Present POETRY IN THEATRE, 6/3

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY announces POETRY IN THEATRE, Monday, June 3 from 2pm - 9pm, a special day-long program of new and rarely-performed works of poetry and theatre, featuring readings and discussions with Judith Malina, Lemon Anderson, Jim Fletcher, Kenneth Goldsmith, Bob Holman, Sibyl Kempson, Christopher Knowles, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Ariana Reines.

The now-legendary group of 1950s American poets called the New York School-including John Ashbery, Barbara Guest, Kenneth Koch, and Frank O'Hara-crossed artistic disciplines and collaborated frequently with painters, sculptors, and theatre artists including Julian Beck and Judith Malina of The Living Theatre. Together, these forward-thinking artists created a hive of activity that might be considered a precursor to today's Off-Off Broadway theatre scene. But what is the state of such cross-disciplinary involvement today?

On June 3, the Segal Center will bring together legendary and emerging voices on the crossroads between poetry and theatre to revisit these seminal collaborations, highlight the legacy of the poetry/theatre connection in New York, and perform rarely-heard works as well as new works in process.

This program represents a truly rare occasion in which poets and theatre-makers are brought together in direct collaboration, to stage works written by poets for the stage, and to explore the intersection between poetry and theatre in discussion.

Monday, June 3 POETRY IN THEATRE performances will include:

2pm: SOMEWHERE NEAR HERE by Yusef Komunyakaa (Pulitzer Prize-winning poet)

directed by Kenneth Sean Collins (Temporary Distortion)

3pm: LORNA by Ariana Reines and Jim Fletcher, directed by Ariana Reines (Telephone)

4pm: FIDGET by Kenneth Goldsmith (UbuWeb), directed by Tom King

5pm: CLEAR THE RANGE by Bob Holman and Bob Rosenthal, directed by Allison Troup-Jensen

6:30pm: Christopher Knowles reads THE SUNDANCE KID IS BEAUTIFUL

6:45pm: Lemon Anderson

7pm: TRY! TRY! by Frank O'Hara (New York School poet), directed by Elise Thoron

and featuring Judith Malina (The Living Theatre)

7:30pm: Panel with writers, directors, and Judith Malina, moderated by Frank Hentschker

8:30pm: Sibyl Kempson

POETRY IN THEATRE is presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center and will take place in the Elebash Recital Hall at The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016. This event is offered free of charge and is open to the public on a first come, first served basis. Program is subject to change. For updates, visit www.theSegalCenter.org.

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (MESTC) is a non-profit center for theatre, dance, and film affiliated with CUNY's Ph.D. Program in Theatre. The Center's mission is to bridge the gap between academia and the professional performing arts communities both within the United States and internationally. By providing an open environment for the development of educational, community-driven, and professional projects in the performing arts, MESTC is a home to theatre scholars, students, playwrights, actors, dancers, directors, dramaturgs, and performing arts managers from the local and interNational Theatre communities. Through diverse programming-staged readings, theatre events, panel discussions, lectures, conferences, film screenings, dance-and a number of publications, MESTC enables artists, academics, visiting scholars and performing arts professionals to participate actively in the advancement and appreciation of the entire range of theatrical experience. The Center presents staged readings to further the development of new and classic plays, lecture series, televised seminars featuring professional and academic luminaries, and arts in education programs, and maintains its long-standing visiting-scholars-from-abroad program. In addition, the Center publishes a series of highly regarded academic journals, as well as books, including plays in translation, written, translated and edited by leading scholars. www.theSegalCenter.org

The Graduate Center, CUNY, of which the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center is an integral part, is the doctorate-granting institution of The City University of New York (CUNY). An internationally recognized center for advanced studies and a national model for public doctoral education, the school offers more than thirty doctoral programs, as well as a number of master's programs. Many of its faculty members are among the world's leading scholars in their respective fields, and its alumni hold major positions in industry and government, as well as in academia. The Graduate Center is also home to twenty-eight interdisciplinary research centers and institutes focused on areas of compelling social, civic, cultural, and scientific concerns. Located in a landmark Fifth Avenue building, The Graduate Center has become a vital part of New York City's intellectual and cultural life with its extensive array of public lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and theatrical events.

Pictured: Frank O'Hara reading with RayBremser, LeRoi Jones, Allen Ginsberg (The Living Theater)

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