#theatrepage

Onyx Theater September 15-20, 2015  |  $5-$12 Tues. – Sat.  8 p.m.  |  Sun.  2 p.m. By Eugène Ionesco. Translated by Michael Feingold. Directed by Peter Campbell. Coordinated and designed by Rebecca Makus. This reimagining of Ionesco’s play about failed utopias explores the use of new media in performance with spoken language and movement, followed by film and a shadow play.

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Join us at the Stillwell Theater as award-winning performer, poet, and playwright Dael Oerlandersmith offers an evening of captivating solo performance that features her most recent work.

According to Encyclopedia.com, “Playwright Dael Orlandersmith belongs to a daring new generation of African-American women writing for the stage and winning establishment recognition for their work. Orlandersmith often acts in her plays as well, delivering critically acclaimed portrayals of lives torn apart by poverty, racism, or substance abuse. Commenting on the sometimes desolate emotional territory that her stories traverse, the New York-based writer reflected in an interview with Stuart Miller for American Theatre that “there is humanity within a bleak story. We find that humanity by exposing the darkness. I use language as a tool. Just the fact that the story itself is told—and hopefully well—is cause for hope.”

Watch a scene from her solo work “Forever” and read The New York Times review here.

Read more about her life here.

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KSU's multi-year intercultural collaboration with Paderborn University in Germany continued in 2015 when a team of eight Paderborn students and two faculty traveled to Kennesaw State University for a residency during the first week of March.

Welcome to the College of the Arts’ Summer Arts Intensive! These one-week, non-residential programs are perfect for young artists who are serious about honing their craft and learning more about what it is like to pursue college-level work in the arts. We invite you to explore our offerings, and come and experience the arts at KSU!

Kennesaw State University College of the Arts offers summer art programs designed to provide you with an unparalleled arts experience. Spend the week learning with our nationally recognized faculty, make new friends and sample college life. At the end of the week, you will showcase your achievements to your friends and family during final performances and exhibitions. We offer summer arts intensives in: Acting, Art and Design, Dance, Music, and Musical Theatre. To learn more about our summer art programs for metro Atlanta high school students, please click here. 

Don't miss "Arms and the Man" by George Bernard Shaw, and directed by Harrison Long, March 17-22 at the Stillwell Theater at 8 p.m. with a matinee on Sunday at 2 p.m. Captain Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary on the run, sneaks into a young woman's boudoir. Not to worry: this unlikely hero has shed his weapons in favor of chocolate creams. One of Shaw's most popular romantic comedies, this play has never seemed more relevant, nor more hilarious.

K.I.S.S. (Kennesaw Improv Society, Stupid!) presents the Spring Hoopla-Palooza at the Onyx Theatre at 8 p.m. This free show, directed by Jamie Bullins, promises infectiously fun performances by the student improv ensemble to usher in the change of seasons. Fully on the fly. Totally NOT suitable for all audiences; you've been warned.

The Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Kennesaw State University recently hosted internationally renowned director, choreographer, video, and installation artist Ping Chong for a five-day residency from February 10-14, 2015. On February 10th, Chong presented a talk about his work entitled “All Islands Connect Underwater.” From February 11-14th, he worked with an ensemble of 23 theatre and performance studies students to devise original performance work. An informal presentation of their work-in-progress took place on Saturday, February 14th in the Stillwell Theater. Ping Chong was born in Toronto, Canada and raised in New York City's Chinatown. He is the recipient of an Obie Award, six NEA Fellowships, a Playwrights USA Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a 1992 New York Theatre and Dance "Bessie" Award for Sustained Achievement. His work has been presented at major museums, festivals, and theaters through the Americas, Europe, and Asia; his series of community residency-based documentary theater explorations of immigrants, Undesirable Elements, have been created and performed all over the world. Ping Chong founded his company Ping Chong + Company in 1975 with a mission to create works of theater and art that explore the intersections of race, culture, history, art, media and technology in the modern world. Today, Ping Chong + Company produces original works by a close-knit ensemble of affiliated artists, under the artistic leadership of Ping Chong. Productions range from intimate oral history projects to grand scale cinematic multidisciplinary productions featuring puppets, performers, and full music and projection scores. The art reveals beauty, precision, and a commitment to social justice. The company’s theatrical works address the important cultural and civic issues of our times, striving to reach the widest audiences with the greatest level of artistic innovation and social integrity. Since 1975, the company has produced over 90 works by Ping Chong and his collaborators at New York venues such as La MaMa ETC, the Brooklyn Academy Music's Next Wave Festival, Central Park Summerstage, Lincoln Center Festival, New Victory Theater, Asia Society, and internationally at Perth International Arts Festival (Australia), The Barbican Centre (UK), Lille 2004 European Capital of Culture Festival (France), Romaeuropa Festival (Italy), Tokyo International Festival of Performing Arts (Japan), and Festival of Asian Art (Hong Kong). Ping Chong + Company has become a model in the performing arts field for international and institutional collaborations. Another dimension of Ping Chong + Company is the PCC Training Institute—a one-week training intensive during which participants work directly with Ping Chong + Company artists to learn the process of creating Undesirable Elements, including how to conduct interviews and develop original script components; strategies to build relationships with community organizations; and two Master Classes with Ping Chong exploring the related esthetics and social justice issues of his multidisciplinary works.*

*This content has been excerpted from Ping Chong + Company’s website.

For more information about Ping Chong + Company, please visit http://www.pingchong.org.