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SOCIETY
OF REPEAT DEFENDERS EVENTS 2007-2009
Members of the SOCIETY
OF REPEAT DEFENDERS have exclusive opportunities to meet and
mingle with our community of artists, the Usual Suspects, season artists,
staff members and other supporters of NYTW. In many cases, they were
the first to hear breaking news on the Workshop or see a new work-in-progress.
Reservations required.
Selected Past Repeat Defenders Events
Click
here for a complete listing of all Repeat Defender Events
Tuesday,
February 1, 2011
83 East 4th Street, 3rd Floor Rehearsal Studio
Repeat Defender Fireside Chat
With Rick Elice, Roger Rees, and Alex Timbers
& Moderator Doug Wright, playwright and NYTW Trustee.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
83 East 4th Street, 3rd Floor Rehearsal Studio
Repeat Defender Fireside Chat
Conversation about Three Pianos with co-creators Rick Burkhardt, Alec
Duffy, Dave Malloy, and director Rachel Chavkin, as they discussion
their production with Christopher H. Gibbs, Professor of Music at Bard
College.
Download recording
of the conversation
Tuesday,
September 14, 2010
83 East 4th
Street, 3rd Floor Rehearsal Studio
Repeat Defender Fireside Chat for
Conversation about The Little Foxes with Director Ivo van Hove and curator
and dramaturg Gideon Lester. Acclaimed
director Ivo van Hove discussed his NYTW production of Lillian Hellman’s
classic play THE LITTLE FOXES with curator, dramaturg, and Columbia
University School of the Arts faculty member Gideon Lester. Van Hove
elaborated on his directing process, his recent productions, and the
differences between American and European theatre. Mr. van Hove’s
past productions at New York Theatre Workshop include MORE STATELY MANSIONS
(1997) A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1999), ALICE IN BED (2001), HEDDA GABLER
(2004), and THE MISANTHROPE (2008). As Associate Artistic Director of
the American Repertory Theater, Mr. Lester adapted and produced a stage
version of Wim Wenders' film Wings Of Desire in collaboration with Mr.
van Hove’s theatre company Toneelgroep Amsterdam, in 2006.
Download
a recording of the conversation
Tuesday,
April 20, 2010
83 East 4th Street, 3rd Floor Rehearsal Studio
Repeat Defender Fireside Chat for RESTORATION Actress/Playwright
Claudia Shear and Director
Christopher Ashley, discussed their new collaboration on RESTORATION
and their prior work together, with
playwright Paul Rudnick.
Tuesday,
March 2, 2010
Repeat
Defenders Evening at TOP SECRET: THE BATTLE FOR THE PENTAGON PAPERS
Repeat Defenders
joined Artistic Director James Nicola and members of our artistic community
for wine and hors d’oeuvres at Cucina di Pesce at 6pm, then attended
the play at 7pm and stayed for an AfterWords discussion.
Tuesday,
December 15, 2009
Repeat Defenders & Friends Reception for The Heart is
a Lonely Hunter
Repeat Defenders
and their invited guests mingled with the cast of The Heart is a
Lonely Hunter and NYTW staff after the 7pm performance, at a special
catered reception in NYTW’s 3rd Floor rehearsal studio at 83 East
4th Street.
Tuesday,
September 22, 2009
Repeat Defenders Evening at Aftermath
Repeat Defenders joined Artistic Director James Nicola and members of
our artistic community for wine and hors d’oeuvres at Cucina di
Pesce at 6pm, then attended the play at 7pm and stayed for an AfterWords
discussion.
Tuesday,
June 2, 2009
Repeat Defenders Evening at Things of Dry Hours
Repeat Defenders joined Artistic Director James Nicola and members of
our artistic community for wine and hors d’oeuvres at Cucina di
Pesce at 6pm, then attended the play at 7pm and stayed for an AfterWords
discussion.
Monday,
April 6, 2009
Reading of THE LITTLE FOXES
by Lillian Hellman
Reading coordinated by NYTW Artistic Leadership Fellow Rafael Gallegos
The Little Foxes is Lillian Hellman’s classic 1939 drama
about an aristocratic family that dominates a small Southern town at
the turn of the century. Following the lives of three women—Regina,
Birdie and Addie—the play explores what happens to each of them
as they face up to the realities of the limitations of their lives in
the patriarchal, post-slavery South. NYTW
plans to produce THE LITTLE FOXES in 2010 under the direction of Ivo
van Hove.
Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, March 25-27
A reading of Caryl Churchill's new 10 minute play.
Seven Jewish Children
by Caryl Churchill
directed by Sam Gold
This extraordinary evening was opened first to members of NYTW and Repeat
Defenders.
Each reading was followed by a moderated discussion, with several notable
authorities from both the Israeli/Jewish and Palestinian communities
attending each performance to be a resource to the conversation.
After the discussion, there was a second reading of the 10-minute play. Laura
Flanders moderated the Wednesday March 25th reading, Tony Kushner and
Alisa Solomon moderated the Thursday March 26th reading and Mark Crispin
Miller moderated the Friday March 27th reading.
Monday,
March 23, 2009
Presentation
of FOOD AND FADWA
Written
by Lameece Issaq
Story by Jacob
Kader and Lameece Issaq
Directed by Shana Gold
Fadwa Faranesh, the single, 30-year-old Palestinian host of cooking
show Food and Fadwa, whips up magical Middle-Eastern eats from her hometown
in military-occupied Bethlehem. The ingredients of a heated political
conflict blend with personal family tensions to create a bittersweet
recipe, threatening the end of Fadwa's cooking show.
Tuesday,
January 27, 2009 6:30-8:00pm
Fireside Chat:
The Casting Process at NYTW
A discussion of the casting process at New York Theatre Workshop
with NYTW Casting Director Jack Doulin and distinguished actor Victor
Slezak.
Download a recording
of the conversation
Monday,
November 24, 2008, 7pm
Presentation of Most Women
By Phyllis Roome, featuring The Grand Inquisitor’s Bruce
Myers
Most Women is an acerbic, witty exploration of an intense father-daughter
conflict in which a sexually repressed woman finally comes of age through
a violent but hilarious confrontation with her unmanageable, libidinous
father. Written by the English actress Phyllis Roome in 2007, Most
Women was read for the first time in the United States at NYTW.
Friday, November 14, 2008, 6pm
Fireside Chat: The Grand Inquisitor
NYU Professor Nancy Ruttenburg led a discussion about the immediate
context for The Grand Inquisitor. The Inquisitor section of
Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov tells the story of an encounter
between Jesus, who has unexpectedly returned to earth at the height
of the Spanish Inquisition, and the head of the Spanish church. The
Grand Inquisitor is the record of a conversation between the silent
imprisoned Jesus and the old Inquisitor who takes the opportunity of
the former’s unexpected and miraculous visit, to refute the vision
of human freedom contained in the Gospels.
Tuesday, November 11, 6pm
Repeat Defenders Evening at The Grand Inquisitor
Repeat Defenders joined Artistic Director James Nicola and members of
our artistic community for wine and hors d’oeuvres at Cucina di
Pesce (87 E. 4th Street) at 6pm, then attended the play at 7pm and stay
for an AfterWords discussion.
Monday, November 3, 2008, 7:00pm
Presention of Weekend
By Gore Vidal, directed by Leigh Silverman
Weekend premiered on Broadway in the spring of 1968, in the
heat of the campaign during which it is set, and Vidal’s biting
political humor is no less relevant today. As politicians question their
consciences in the midst of scandal, we get a prescient snapshot of
a critical moment in our nation’s political history.
October 20, 2008, 6:30pm
Presentation of The Iraqi Refugee Project
By Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen
Repeat Defenders had the opportunity to be part of an important work
in its very early stages. Since the American invasion of Iraq, it is
estimated that over 80,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. And almost
four million Iraqi civilians are now refugees. Behind these numbers
are real people with heart-wrenching stories. Jessica Blank and Erik
Jensen explore and expose injustice and battered lives, transforming
interviews they conducted with Iraqi refugees in Jordan into an anthology
of monologues. Together, these poignant, first-person narratives coalesce
into powerful documentary theater that not only puts a human face on
war, but helps address human rights issues and a humanitarian disaster
that will impact our world for generations.
Monday, October 6, 2008, 7:00pm
I Hate To Be The One To Tell You This with Mark Crispin
Miller
Directed by Gregory Keller
Mark Crispin Miller is a Professor of Media, Culture and Communication
at NYU, and a longtime proponent of democracy in the United States.
Mr. Miller presented his public meditation on the issues of the day,
with a focus on the 2008 presidential Election.
Tuesday,
September 23, 2008 6pm
Repeat Defenders Evening at Beast
Repeat Defenders joined Artistic Director James Nicola and members of
our artistic community for wine
and hors d’oeuvres at Cucina di Pesce (87 E. 4th Street) at 6pm,
then attended the play at 7pm and stay
for an AfterWords discussion.
Monday, September 22, 2008 7:00pm
Presentation of Year One Of The Empire
A Play of American Politics, War, and Protest taken from the historical
record
By Elinor Fuchs and Joyce Antler, directed by Moisés Kaufman
This award-winning documentary play, Year One Of The Empire,
written as a white-hot act of political protest by a nationally-known
theater critic and historian, takes an often hilarious, grotesque, and
finally tragic journey through the launching of the American empire
at the turn of the twentieth century. Avowed imperialists like President
William McKinley and a fast-rising Theodore Roosevelt maneuvered the
U.S. into empire; all the while the anti-imperialist movement vigorously
protested imperial policy.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 7pm
Thoughts on the Next Election (If Any) with Mark Crispin
Miller, directed by Gregory Keller
Mark Crispin Miller is a Professor of Media, Culture and Communication
at NYU, and a longtime proponent of democracy in the United States.
Tuesday,
June 10, 7:30pm-9pm
Wine & Cheese Reception – The Jenin
Freedom Theatre
Juliano
Mer Khamis, artistic director of the Jenin Freedom Theatre, and Dr.
Mervat Aiash, Board Chairperson, spoke about the current activities
of The Freedom Theatre, a children’s theatre program located in
the middle of the refugee camp in Jenin (Occupied Palestinian Territories).
Mer Khamis, a controversial actor, director and political activist,
created and directed the award-winning documentary “Arna’s
Children,” which shows his mother’s work with children in
Jenin and its destruction by the Israeli Army in 2002. Dr. Aiash, professor
of fine arts at the Arab American University in Jenin, provides an important
model for the girls in the theatre and is a link between the theatre
and the university community.
Monday,
June 9, 7pm
Presentation of THE BIG BOOT By Jenny Allen, directed
by James Lapine
Jenny Allen’s
work-in-progress, THE BIG BOOT, is her story of the harrowing tailspin
of being diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer -- and the collateral
damage of her illness on her family. But it’s funny too. Jenny
Allen is a writer and performer, whose profiles, essays and reviews
have appeared for years in many magazines, including The New York Times,
New York, Esquire, and Vogue. James
Lapine, distinguished as both a writer and a director, has been nominated
for eleven Tony Awards, winning on three occasions. His work has also
been recognized with six Drama
Desk Awards, an Obie Award, and the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Ms. Allen and Mr. Lapine have been collaborating on THE BIG BOOT since
the summer of 2007and
showed their work-in-progress at White Oak in March of this year.
Friday,
May 23, 2008 6:45pm - 7:30pm
Special pre-show discussion in conjunction with THE PROGRAM
David
Cote conducted a pre-show conversation with director John Collins about
THE SOUND AND THE FURY (APRIL SEVENTH, 1928). They discussed literature
on stage, adaptation and the work of Elevator Repair Service. THE PROGRAM
consists of Helen Shaw, David Cote and Jeffrey Jones - two reviewers
and a playwright-cultural critic-who want the widest possible audience
to feel welcome at the widest range of dramatically ambitious work.
Armed with pre-show discussions and supplementary dramaturgical materials,
THE PROGRAM roams from theater to theater, providing context to audiences
at selected experimental productions.
Monday,
May 12, 2008 7:30-9pm
NYTW 25: Two-and-a-Half Decades of Serving The Artist (Part
II)
The final
event in New York Theatre Workshop’s special series of 25th Anniversary
public programs continued the discussion of “workshop” initiatives,
with a focus on our Artists of Color Fellowships and our Companies-in-Residence
Programs. The panel was moderated by Moises Kaufman of Tectonic Theater
Project, and participants included Moe Angelos of the Five Lesbian Brothers,
John Collins of Elevator Repair Service, Ruben Polendo of MITU, Najla
Saïd of Nibras, and Chiori Miyagawa, who launched the first fellowships
at NYTW.
Tuesday,
April 22, 2008 6pm at New York Theatre Workshop.
Repeat
Defenders Evening at The Sound and the Fury
Join Artistic Director James Nicola, Repeat Defenders Chair Julie Denny,
and members of our artistic community for wine and hors d’oeuvres
at Cucina di Pesce (87 E. 4th Street) at 6pm, then attend the play at
7pm and stay for an AfterWords discussion.
Monday,
March 24, 2008 7:30-9pm Location: 79 East 4th Street
NYTW 25: Two-and-a-Half Decades of Serving the Artist
New York Theatre Workshop’s special series of twenty-fifth anniversary
public programs will be a discussion exploring the “workshop”
component of our activities.
February
26, 2008
Repeat Defenders Evening at Liberty City
Artistic Director James Nicola, Repeat Defenders Chair Julie
Denny and members of our artistic community gather for wine and hors
d'oeuvres, then attend the play and stay for a lively AfterWords post-performance
discussion.
January
29, 2008
Fireside Chat
A panel discussion exploring the social and political conditions that
fueled the 1980 Miami riots and the larger picture of black activism
in the latter half of the twentieth century featured Jessica Blank,
co-author and director of Liberty City; April Yvette Thompson,
co author and performer of Liberty City; Dr. Farah Jasmine
Griffin, Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African-American
Studies and Director of the Insitute for Research in African-American
Studies at Columbia University; and, April Silver, a social entrepreneur,
community leader, and writer who founded Akila Worksongs, a Brooklyn-based
organization that provides consulting services to artists and activists.
December
11, 2007
Repeat Defenders Cocktails at Beckett Shorts
Repeat Defenders mixed and mingled at a pre-theatre cocktail hour at
Cucina di Pesce with Jim Nicola and several NYTW trustees. An AfterWords
discussion with Jennifer Tipton, Lighting Designer; Andreea Mincic,
Assistant Set Designer; Mirit Tal, Video Designer; Efran Delgadillo,
Technical Director followed the performance that evening. Download
a recording of the conversation
November 27, 2007
Fireside Chat
Director JoAnne Akalaitis and Composer Philip Glass discussed their
careers, collaborations and their work on NYTW’s production,
Beckett Shorts. Moderated by NYTW’s Associate Artistic Director,
Linda Chapman. Download
a recording of the conversation
November
5, 2007
NYTW
25 Special Anniversary Event: New Directors Project (1983-1989)
Alumni discussed the Workshop’s support of their early artistic
development and how it shaped their careers. Panelists included Liz
Diamond, David Esbjornson, Michael Greif, Brian Kulick, Jean Passanante,
Lisa Peterson, and Bartlett Sher.
October 22, 2007
Repeat Defenders Evening at the Movies
In conjunction with the production of The Misanthrope, Repeat
Defenders and their guests attended a private showing of Ariane Mnouchkine’s
rarely seen 1978’s movie Molière.
October
9, 2007
Repeat Defenders Cocktails at The Misanthrope
Repeat Defenders attended a pre-theatre cocktail hour at Cucina di Pesce
with Jim Nicola and several NYTW trustees, where Jim opened the floor
to a theatrical Q & A! An AfterWords discussion with the cast of
The Misanthrope followed the performance that evening.
September 24, 2007
Opening Night of The Misanthrope
Repeat Defenders at the Courageous and Diligent levels attended the
opening performance of Ivo van Hove’s The Misanthrope,
and then joined the cast and creative team in the transformed 3rd Floor
Rehearsal Hall for cocktails, dinner, video and art installations, and
revelry.
September
5, 2007
Fireside Chat
Exploring Molière. In preparation for the production of The
Misanthrope, NYTW hosted a panel discussion exploring traditions
and innovations in the productions of Molière’s plays,
featuring two members of the NYU French faculty: Dr. Judith Miller,
Department Chair and specialist in French and Francophone theatre, Dr.
Benoît Bolduc, specialist in 17th century French history and performance,
as well as Bart Van den Eynde, Ivo van Hove’s dramaturg for the
production of The Misanthrope. Download
a recording of the conversation
July 31, 2007
Opening Night of The Black Eyed
Repeat Defenders at the Courageous and Diligent levels attended the
opening night performance, and then joined playwright Betty Shamieh,
director Sam Gold, the cast, and their celebrity guests at the after-party!
June 12, 2007
Repeat Defenders Cocktails at Horizon
Repeat Defenders mixed and mingled at a pre-theatre cocktail hour at
Cucina di Pesce with Jim Nicola and several NYTW trustees. An AfterWords
discussion with the cast of Horizon followed the performance that evening.
Download a recording of that conversation.
May 7, 2007
The Benefits of Building Green
Sustainable design and construction for a better city. This town hall
meeting held at our theatre was open to Repeat Defenders, local arts
organizations, and other community members. Moderated by NYTW Managing
Director Lynn Moffat, panelists included NYTW’s architect Mitchell
Kurtz, Peter Blom of Con Edison Solutions, and Mark McCracken, who sits
on the board of the U.S. Green Building Council. Manhattan Borough President
Scott Stringer delivered the opening remarks.
May 5 & 6, 2007
ASWAT: Voices of Palestine Public Programs
The first
collaboration between NYTW and company-in-residence Nibras, an Arab-American
theatre collective, this reading and discussion series was produced
in partnership with the Drama Department at New York University, and
was held at the Loewe Theatre at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Eight
plays highlighting the Palestinian experience were read and discussed
over the course of two days. Repeat Defenders were invited to attend
along with NYTW Trustees, Members, and guests of Nibras and NYU.
February 26, 2007
25th Anniversary Party And 365 Days/365 Plays
Repeat Defenders joined the members of NYTW’s artistic
community for an exclusive party celebrating our 25th Anniversary Season.
Attendees mingled with Usual Suspects, artists from our season productions,
and cut the 25th Anniversary cake. Also that evening, NYTW hosted a
night of readings for Susan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days/365 Plays
Festival, to which attending Repeat Defenders were invited.
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