For Immediate Release

Contact: Randal Fippinger - (413) 597-4808

rfippinger@williams.edu

Williamstheatre

Presents

2nd Annual

Dialogue One

Theatre Festival

Artistic Director Omar Sangare

’62 Center for Theatre and Dance – November 21^st & 22^nd

[WILLIAMSTOWN, MA, October 21^st, 2008] – Williamstheatre proudly announces the second annual Dialogue One Theatre Festival, directed by Omar Sangare. Dialogue One is an international theatre festival with the primary aim to establish a platform for Williams students and professional artists to share their theatrical works with a broad range of audiences.

“We believe that a global range of artists will inspire the artistic dialog among students, professionals, and audiences. Last year, artists from different backgrounds, different schools and different countries all had the opportunity to meet and share their work with one another, and there was a diverse audience that included people from Williamstown, Boston, New York City, Worcester and other places,” says Professor Sangare. The performers will explore essential dramatic themes, such as intellectual and emotional complexity, the subject of solitude and the uniqueness of human imperfection. It is an occasion to share diverse perspectives that span cultural, perceptional, linguistic, professional or personal similarities and differences between people.

2008 Festival artists include, Tim Collins performing A Fire as Bright as Heaven, Kymbali Craig performing Male Gaze, and Matt Oberg performing The Event under the direction of OBIE award and Edinburgh Festival Fringe First award winner John Clancy. Mr. Clancy is also a founding Artistic Director of The New York International Fringe Festival.

Tim Collins’ performance is a 40 character, comedic and political solo show that chronicles the past seven years of American upheaval, from Sept. 11 to the 2008 elections. It spans our recent and tumultuous history through opinion, empathy and outrage. A Fire as Bright as Heaven has won numerous awards including selection for publication in "Plays and Playwrights 2009” and was featured in the 24th Annual National Storytelling Conference at Tang Center, M.I.T., Cambridge, Mass.

Male Gaze is a solo hip-hop theatre performance piece, inspired by the 1970s film documentary War Zone. New York-based Kymbali Craig is a performance artist fusing spoken-word, comedy, theatre and music to create projects that address social and political issues. Craig presents us to an array of characters as she portrays variations of young women affected by the issue of consistent unwanted advances from men. We are led on this journey through the main characters: Old Wize, a conservative/traditional woman who has transcended history, and Kitty Kat, the seductive modern image of today’s women, power and beauty. During the duration of the piece she introduces us to several characters and as the characters change, we are privy to their inner dilemma and are taken into various moments of these women’s lives.

A comic, transparent examination of the act of theatre is projected through The Event, starring Matt Oberg. What starts as a straightforward deconstruction of the one-man show transforms into an honest attempt at communion with those gathered. Dealing directly and humorously with the technician, the stage manager, the critics and the audience, the actor moves into dangerous and slippery territory. Armed only with his memorized words, can an actor say something else? The Event premiered at The P.I.T. Theatre in New York City and went on to play The Undergroundzero Festival at Collective:Unconscious.

Williams College students will present original solo pieces based on historical or contemporary public figures, and combined into one event entitled, Portrait Gallery. The works were developed in Professor Sangare’s course on Solo Theatre in which students explore the process of creating a solo piece and learn to author and design all aspects of the production. Students will be performing works ranging from Meredith Nelson ’09 as Britney Spears in You Want a Piece of Me?, Leungo Donald Molosi ’09 as the heir to the chieftaincy of Botswana’s largest ethnic group, Seretse Khama in Blue, Black and White, Andrei Baiu ’11 as the world-renowned British actor and man of extremes Oliver in Oliver Reed; and finally Lexie Hunt ’09 as the acclaimed poet and novelist Sylvia Plath in Integration.

Schedule:

Friday, November 21^st

11:00 a.m. - Workshop with Obie Award winner John Clancy

7:30 p.m. - Portrait Gallery

Saturday, November 22^nd

2:00 p.m. - The Event

3:30 p.m. - A Fire as Bright as Heaven

6:00 p.m. - Male Gaze

7:30 p.m. - Portrait Gallery

8:30 p.m. – Award Ceremony

Festival Passes are $3.

Williamstheatre is the producing arm of Williams College Department of Theatre. The Department of Theatre combines artistic practice with scholarly inquiry, inspiring students to engage simultaneously in craft and context, creativity and critical thinking. Believing that students learn by doing, it strives to create situations where the unique talents of each can coexist with mentorship and expert artistic guidance.

Continuing its mission to contextualize arts within scholarly inquiry, the Center presents an impressive body of work that sets student work side-by-side with professional artists. This season will challenge traditional forms, engage with the larger political dialogue, and allow students to explore diverse modes of expression. Not content to merely present popular work, the professional performances, workshops, and students productions are designed to invite the entire academic community to engage, debate, and celebrate the experience of both witnessing and creating live art.

For a complete calendar, ticket prices and additional information, please call (413) 597-2425 (Tuesday through Saturday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and one hour before each performance) or visit http://62center.williams.edu/

Williamstheatre presents: 2nd Annual Dialogue One Solo Theatre Festival - November 20th to 22nd