theatre minima : past productions : howard barker at the segal center

Internationally renowned dramatist Howard Barker focus of day-long celebration at Segal Theatre Center

British poet, playwright and director to make a rare New York appearance

The work of Howard Barker, one of the most controversial English-language dramatists, directors and theatre theoreticians of our time, will be celebrated in a day-long event, Howard Barker at the Segal Center, on Monday, May 10, 2010, at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York. Barker, along with his frequent collaborator actress Victoria Wicks and critic David Ian Rabey, author of a two-volume study of Barker's work, will make a rare visit to the United States specifically for the event, which is being co-presented by the Segal Center and the theatre minima company.

All of the day's activities will be free and open to the public.

The schedule will include screenings, readings, panel discussions and a one-on-one conversation with the dramatist, who has been called "Britain's greatest living dramatist" by the London Times and "the Shakespeare of our age" by Sarah Kane. Scheduled to participate in the celebrations proceedings are Drama Desk award winner and Tony nominee Jan Maxwell (2009 Drama Desk nominee for Barker's Scenes from an Execution), playwright Ken Urban, Red Bull Theater artistic director Jesse Berger, Wrestling School associate Richard Romagnoli, and Barker Project co-founder Robert Emmet Lunney. The proceedings for the entire day will be curated by George Hunka, artistic director, theatre minima.

Since the debut of his play Cheek at the Royal Court in 1970, Barker has dedicated his career to a profound questioning of the place of theatre and tragedy in contemporary culture, and many of his plays, including Scenes from an Execution, Gertrude — The Cry, Victory and The Castle, have achieved the status of masterpieces of contemporary theatre. His book of theory, Arguments for a Theatre, continues to inspire theatre practitioners around the world. In 1988 Barker formed his own company, The Wrestling School, the 21st anniversary of which was celebrated in 2009 with 21 for 21, a global event that featured performances of Barker's plays from Seattle to South Africa, and a Barker season of plays at Paris' Odeon theatre. Barker remains a profound influence on two generations of international theatre artists.

The current schedule of events, subject to change, is as follows:

1.00pm: A screening of Refuse to Dance, an hour-long 1988 BBC documentary about the playwright that provides an overview of Barker's early work.

2.15pm: Screening of three excerpts from Barker's recent directorial work with The Wrestling School.

3.30pm: "Howard Barker in America," a panel discussion about the production and dissemination of Barker's plays in the U.S., featuring Drama Desk Award winner and Tony-nominated actress Jan Maxwell, playwright Ken Urban, actor Robert Emmet Lunney, artistic director of the Red Bull Theatre Jesse Berger, and Potomac Theatre Project co-artistic director Richard Romagnoli, an artistic associate of the Wrestling School.

4.45 - 6.30pm: Dinner break.

6.30pm: Readings of scenes from several recent plays by Barker, directed by Jesse Berger, artistic director of the Red Bull Theatre.

7.30pm: "A Conversation with Howard Barker," a one-on-one discussion with Barker conducted by one of his most incisive critics and a performer and director of Barker's work, Prof. David Ian Rabey of the University of Aberystwyth, Wales.

8.30pm: A reading by Barker of his most recent poetry.

ADDITIONAL INTERNET RESOURCES

Howard Barker
The Wrestling School
21-for-21 Festival