New School for Drama Announces 'First Look' Performance Series

The New School for Drama is pleased to present FIRST LOOK, a performance series featuring workshop presentations of classical and contemporary works. This year’s FIRST LOOK performances will be directed by 3 Drama League Directing Fellows and include The Pillars of Society (October 15-18), written by Henrik Ibsen, Stage Door (November 5-8), written by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman and All’s Well that End’s Well (December 10-13) written by William Shakespeare. All are free and open to the public. Each performance takes place at The New School for Drama Theater, 151 Bank Street, 3rd Floor.

“Workshop performances enable our students to get to the heart of real theatre work,” said New School Drama Director Robert LuPone of the productions, which are staged in a final rehearsal atmosphere with minimal sets, lights, costumes, and props. “This year for the first time we are partnering with the Drama League, and each of the productions will be directed by one of their fellows. These rising talents will be great mentors to our students, especially those in our directing program who will work closely with the fellows.”

The MFA Directing program at The New School for Drama offers a comprehensive hands-on education in the art of directing. The three-year curriculum commences with the history of theater and directing. The second year is devoted to study of classic works and directing techniques and the third year is focused entirely on planning and production and culminates in a full-scale production that serves as a master’s thesis. Directing is one of the three MFA programs at The New School for Drama, alongside Playwriting and Acting, which enables students to work collaboratively to develop their skills as professional artists.

Drama League fellows Johanna McKeon, Hal Brooks and Stephen Fried will direct this fall’s performances. McKeon’s directing credits include I Have Loved Strangers by Anne Washburn (both world and New York premieres) and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Cymbeline, both at Vineyard Playhouse. She also served as associate director of the 2006 Broadway production of Grey Gardens. Fellow Hal Brooks directed the tour of Nilaja Sun’s Obie Award Winning No Child…,. as well as the acclaimed Off-Broadway hit and Pulitzer Finalist Thom Pain (based on nothing). Other recent productions include Lady by Craig Wright, Lonesome Hollow and “MASTER HAROLD”…and the boys. Fried, a Yale School of Drama graduate, has a multitude of experience directing Shakespeare. Some of his recent work includes Henry V at Milwaukee Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare Theatre of NJ and Love’s Labour’s Lost at Illinois Shakespeare.

 
FIRST LOOK 2008 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

FIRST LOOK 2008
The New School for Drama Theater
151 Bank Street, 3rd Floor
Free general admission
Reservations recommended; please call Ticket Central at 212.279.4200 or visit www.ticketcentral.com
For more information, visit www.drama.newschool.edu

THE PILLARS OF SOCIETY
October 15 – 17, 8 p.m.; October 18, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
By Henrik Ibsen; translated by Michael Meyer; directed by Johanna McKeon
Set in a seaside port in provincial Norway, a wealthy ship owner has married to further his career. He has, however, a scandal in his past, and all attempts by this ‘pillar of the community’ to hide his shame come back to haunt him in the present.

STAGE DOOR
November 5 – 7, 8 p.m.; November 8, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
By Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman; directed by Hal Brooks
The hopes and ambitions of sixteen young women living in a theatrical boarding house for aspiring actresses are revealed as they fall hopelessly...desperately... fatally in love with the theater.

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
December 10 – 12, 8 p.m.; November 13, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
by William Shakespeare; directed by Stephen Fried
Love just doesn’t come easy in this bittersweet romantic comedy. As her reward for healing the King of France, Helena claims the hand of the young lord Bertram. He, however, refuses the arrangement but the passionate Helena won't take no for an answer. So it’s up to Helena to find another remedy – this time for the contempt that prevents Bertram from accepting her love.

At The New School for Drama, the instinct to create is revered. Through its interrelated, three-year MFA program in acting, directing, or playwriting, the school is forging the next generation of dramatic artists. A faculty of working professionals brings to the fore each student’s unique and original voice, and helps them establish a rooted sense of who they are as individuals and as artists. The New School’s history in the dramatic arts began in the 1940s, when the Dramatic Workshop, led by founder Erwin Piscator and a faculty including Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, fostered artistic voices as distinctive as Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando. For more information, visit www.drama.newschool.edu.

To post a comment, you must register and login.