InCite Arts Festival March 8, 2008

BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS TO PRESENT FIRST ANNUAL
INCITE ARTS FESTIVAL IN NYC MARCH 9-15, 2008

FESTIVAL TO FEATURE TOM STOPPARD’S RARELY PERFORMED EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR,
A NEW PLAY ABOUT THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT,
AND MICHAEL NYMAN’S ONE-ACT OPERA THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT (BASED ON THE BOOK BY OLIVER SACKS)

The Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is pleased to present the first annual InCite Arts Festival, taking place March 9-15, 2008 in New York City. Conceived to showcase the dynamic artistic strengths and synergy of the college’s schools of theatre, music, and visual arts, each school is offering new and interdisciplinary programming that boasts an eclectic and compelling combination of titles and artists.

“We pick pieces that are challenging and evocative, that are not conventional,” says Jim Petosa, director of the BU School of Theatre. “We want to give the audience a way to explore performances they wouldn’t often get a chance to see.”

The InCite Arts Festival will feature Tom Stoppard and André Previn’s rarely performed Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, recent CFA alumna Nitzan Halperin’s new play, Sow and Weep, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Michael Nyman’s one-act opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (based on the book by Oliver Sacks), a chamber orchestra concert featuring premieres of works by composers with close affiliations with the BU School of Music, an exhibition of works by MFA painting and sculpture students from the BU School of Visual Arts, and a showcase of senior actors from the BU School of Theatre.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (EGBDF), which boasts a 47-member orchestra, is a collaborative piece written by the unique artistic team of Tom Stoppard and André Previn. In a Soviet asylum in 1977, two men share a cell. While Ivanov is a genuine mental patient who believes he’s conducting a full orchestra that appears on stage, Alexander is a political prisoner and must admit his “mental illness” to regain his freedom. EGBDF possesses a harrowing resonance for our time, as it focuses in on the human ramifications of questionable state-sponsored incarceration. Click http://www.bu.edu/today/node/2134 to read a feature story on the play.

Sow and Weep, written by recent CFA alumna Nitzan Halperin, is an intimate look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict told through the eyes of two uniquely connected women and their families – one from each side of the battle line. Iman, a Palestinian law student living in a refugee camp, and Talia, an Israeli peace activist, struggle to hold on to their sense of dignity and hope. Committed to saving their countries and their families, the two women fight to rescue their brothers who are deeply involved in the conflict. When the paths of the two women are disrupted by the pain of loss, they are pulled deeper into the conflict until their fatally interconnected journeys converge. Sow and Weep was developed as part of the BU School of Theatre’s New Play Initiative and is the school’s official entry in the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Click http://www.bu.edu/research/spotlight/2007/arts/plays/index.shtml to read a feature story on BU’s New Play Initiative.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a one-act chamber opera by Michael Nyman with an English-language libretto by Christopher Rawlence and Nyman, assisted by Michael Morris. It was adapted from the case study of the same name by neurologist Oliver Sacks, and was first performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on October 27, 1986. The plot concerns the investigation by a neurologist of the condition of a singer who suffers from visual agnosia, or the loss of the ability to recognize objects.

Jim Petosa has been the artistic and educational leader of the Boston University School of Theatre since 2002, as well as Artistic Director of Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center for the Arts since 1994. Mr. Petosa serves as one of three artistic directors for the Potomac Theatre Project, a company devoted to the presentation of new, political works. As a guest artist, he has directed at the John F. Kennedy Center and the Studio Theatre. Mr. Petosa directed the Theater J production of Collected Stories, for which he received a 2001 Helen Hayes Award nomination for outstanding direction.

Led by a Host Committee of prominent Boston University alumni and New-York based arts supporters, the festival will also feature a series of educational and social events hosted by Committee members. Host Committee members include Broadway producer Stewart Lane, director Nicholas Martin, painters Pat Steir and Andrew Raftery, and SungEun Han-Anderson, President of the Anderson Family Foundation. The Host Committee is designed to reach out to the 50,000 members of the BU community in the Tri-State area, to engage alumni, parents, prospective students, and other supporters through this all-encompassing one-week celebration of the Boston University College of Fine Arts.

The Boston University College of Fine Arts was created in 1954 to bring together the School of Theatre, the School of Music, and the School of Visual Arts. The University’s vision was to create a community of artists in a conservatory-style school offering professional training in the arts to both undergraduate and graduate students, complemented by a liberal arts curriculum for undergraduate students. Since those early days, education at the College of Fine Arts, which began on the B.U. campus, has extended into the city of Boston, a rich center of cultural, artistic and intellectual activity.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE AND VENUE INFORMATION

EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR
Written by Tom Stoppard, with music by André Previn. Directed by Jim Petosa and conducted by Neal Hampton.
Friday, March 14, 8:00pm at The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street between Broadway & 6th Ave.)
Box Office Hours: Monday-Saturday, 12-6pm - 212-840-2824
Running time is 90 minutes.

SOW AND WEEP
Written by Nitzan Halperin and directed by Jason McDowell-Green.
Monday, March 10, 9:00pm and Wednesday, March 12, 9:00pm at Helen Mills Theater (137-139 West 26th Street between 6th & 7th Ave.) 212-243-6200
Running time is 75 minutes.

THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT
Based on the book by Oliver Sacks. Music by Michael Nyman.
Libretto by Christopher Rawlence and Michael Nyman, assisted by Michael Morris.
William Lumpkin (Conductor) and Jim Petosa (Stage Director).
Monday, March 10, 7:00pm and Wednesday, March 12, 7:00pm at Helen Mills Theater (137-139 West 26th Street between 6th & 7th Ave.) 212-243-6200
Running time is 55 minutes.

THESE WORLDS IN US: CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CONCERT
Boston University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Cornell
Featuring soloists Simon Estes, baritone; Na Sun, violin; Todd Palmer, clarinet; and Elsbieta Brandys, flute
Includes the World Premiere of Three Songs of Nature by Martin Amlin, the NY Premieres of These Worlds in Us by Melissa Mazzoli, Tracer by Richard Cornell with digital video of images by Deborah Cornell, and Concertino by Jonathan Newman; plus The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind by Osvaldo Golijov.
Thursday, March 13, 8:00pm at The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street between Broadway & 6th Ave.)
Box Office Hours: Monday-Saturday, 12-6pm - 212-840-2824

MASTER OF FINE ARTS EXHIBITION
Juried by João Ribas, critic/curator at The Drawing Center in New York and head of the MFA Thesis Committee at NYU
Sunday, March 9 – Saturday, March 15 at Robert Steele Gallery (511 West 25th Street between 10th & 11th Ave.) 212-243-0165
Opening Reception: Tuesday, March 11, 6:00-9:00pm

SENIOR CLASS THEATRE SHOWCASE
Tuesday, March 11, 6:00pm, and Wednesday, March 12, 3:00pm and 6:00pm at West Bank Café/Laurie Beechman Theatre at 407 West 42nd Street

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Sow and Weep, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and These Worlds In Us are $25 (general public), $20 (BU Alumni), $20 (seniors), $10 (students with valid ID), and $15 (for groups of 10 or more). Tickets are available at http://www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 212-307-4100. Visit http://www.bu.edu/cfa/incite for more info on the shows.
Admission to the Master of Fine Arts Exhibition at the Robert Steele Gallery is complimentary.
Call 617-353-3384 for Senior Class Theatre Showcase reservations ONLY.

Official Website: http://www.bu.edu/cfa/incite