Next Thursday, April 23, from 3:30 to 6:30 pm, at the Martin E. Segal Theatre of the CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Ave. at 34th St.) will be this event:
Towards a Sustainable Green Theatre in NY
Featuring an afternoon eco conference and evening panel
Or at least that’s what the email blast from CUNY is telling me. Here’s the 411:
In commemoration of Earth Week 2009, join us as we explore what theatre artists and production staff are doing to meet the extraordinary challenges of climate change. Featuring presentations and a panel discussion moderated by Michael Johnson-Chase, with Gideon Banner (Green Theatre Initiative); Bob Usdin (Showman Fabricators); Benno Van Noort (New Victory Theatre and The New 42nd Street Studios); NYC Director Daniella Topol; Marda Kirn (Eco-Arts, Boulder); Ben Todd (Arcola Theatre, London) and Seema Sueko (Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, San Diego) will participate via a Skype feed. Click here for details.
In the afternoon eco conference, there will be a panel of papers and presentations by New York theatre scholars and artists that engage the burgeoning interest in eco-critical approaches to theatre and performance. Una Chaudhuri is keynote speaker.
Here is some more information from the CUNY website:
This event will explore theatre and the environment from two perspectives: the process of making theatre, and the theatre we make. We will explore building performance and renewable energy, facilities management, closed loop set design and construction and intelligent recycling. We will also see an excerpt of the new play Water by Shelia Callaghan. Directed by Daniella Topol, we will learn from her how this multimedia theatre piece about water has been shaped through her consultations with scientists at the Department of Environmental Conservation.
This program is co-curated for CUNY by Michael Johnson-Chase, a former theatre professor, international program director at the Lark Play Development Center, producer and writer. After a stint as a solar installer, he is working his way into the intersection of the arts and the environment. He currently is a grant writer for Solar One; an environmentally focused arts and education center in NYC.
By the way, I absolutely love the image I used for this post. It belongs to TheGreenTheatre.org. Check it out.
