IMAGINE: IRAQ

A Theatrical Event
Staged Reading of
Eight New Works-in-Progress and One New York Premiere*

Tariq Ali ("Necklaces" -- UK)
Kia Corthron ("Breath, Boom" -- US)
Culture Clash ("Nuyorican Stories" -- US)
Reg e. Gaines ("Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk" -- US)
Trevor Griffiths ("Comedians" -- UK)
Robert O'Hara ("Insurrection" -- US)
Harold Pinter* ("Betrayal" -- UK)
Betty Shamieh ("Chocolate in Heat" -- US)
Naomi Wallace ("One Flea Spare" -- US)

November 19, 7:30pm,
The Great Hall at Cooper Union, New York City
7 E. 7th St., New York City

$5 contribution (to offset cost of production)

The Artists Network of Refuse & Resist!, in association with playwright Naomi Wallace, is producing IMAGINE: IRAQ, an evening of eight new short plays. The pieces are inspired by the lives of those affected by the US/UK's roles in the Middle East, specifically in Iraq, after ten years of bombing and the imposition of international sanctions. These works-in-progress will be performed as a staged reading on November 19th at 7:30 PM at the 960-seat Great Hall of Cooper Union in New York City. (Harold Pinter's play, the New York premiere, was written in 1991 and contributed by the playwright for the reading.)

The evening was curated by Naomi Wallace and Connie Julian, the national coordinator of the Artists Network. The directors include: Jeremy Cohen, Reg e. Gaines, Michael John Garcés, Connie Grappo, Damon Kiely, Jeremy Pikser, and others TBA.

This project has been in the making for nearly a year. It began with the writing of a short play by Naomi Wallace, originally commissioned by the McCarter Theater. Her piece concerns an Iraqi pigeon collector who is forced to see his prize pigeons sold for food. Wallace and Julian began to think about how this story could invite other stories, how it might be possible to create a whole evening of short plays which explore the connections between the people in Iraq, the Middle East, and the people in the west. When they asked other playwrights to contribute their own stories, nearly everyone said yes. The plays started coming in: stories of Iraqi teenagers, a family and a dying child, two homeless men in New York City, a Chicano actor and a Muslim cab driver, the sister of a Palestinian suicide bomber.

As the artists prepared to take the plays to the stage, the shocking events of September 11 and the war changed everyone's lives, creating a need and possibility for artists to connect with the people in important ways. In that spirit, the writers and producers of IMAGINE: IRAQ are inviting the public to share in the first staged reading of these plays.

There are plans to continue developing the production into the new year.

For information call: 212-431-3681

For reservations call: 212-431-3681.

Co-sponsored by Cooper Union Continuing Education and Public Program Office

Press contact: Timothy Haskell, Publicity Outfitters at 212.307.1118

artwork(above): detail of artwork by Nancy Spero

***

This piece appeared in the New York Times on November 2, 2001 in the "On Stage and Off" Column by Jesse McKinley.

Life in Iraq Goes On

On Nov. 19 eight playwrights, American and British, are to present a series of new short plays in a staged reading at Cooper Union. That, in itself, seems like nothing special, until you consider the evening's title, "Imagine: Iraq."

The plays are a part of project initiated by the playwright Naomi Wallace ("One Flea Spare") to raise awareness about life in Iraq under the decade-old United Nations and United States embargo, a topic that has taken on a new relevance since Sept. 11. Among the playwrights contributing work are Harold Pinter, Kia Corthron ("Breath, Boom") and Reg E. Gaines ("Bring In da Noise, Bring In da Funk").

Despite concern that anger about the attacks, and possible Iraqi links to the attackers, will color some people's perception of the event, Ms.Wallace said she felt the event needed to go forward.

"It is such a sensitive and scary time, and I think all of us are feeling this," Ms. Wallace said. "But I think silence is not a good food for democracy."

The short plays, ranging from stories of two homeless men in New York City to that of a sister of a Palestinian suicide bomber, are also sponsored by an organization called the Artists' Network of Refuse and Resist!, a group of artists who, according to their Web site, "create and promote art that contributes to a culture of resistance."

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

[posted 11/13/01]