The Gathering from the CrossCurrents Festival

As part of the inaugural CrossCurrents festival, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. presented The Gathering livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Wednesday 8 May to Saturday 11 May 2019.

The Lab brought together more than 200 visionary artists from more than 40 countries to celebrate and highlight how their innovative work harnesses the power of performance to address the pressing challenges of our world.

In addition to the performances of The Chibok Girls: Our Story, a suite of solo and pair performances ran in repertory throughout The Gathering, with limited ticket availability for the wider public. Throughout this four-day event, artists were joined by thought-leaders, policymakers, activists, scholars, and the next generation of change-makers. 

Wednesday 8 May 2019: Why We Are Here

2 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 18:00 - 19:45 UTC +0 / 7 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1)

Welcome

Derek Goldman, Co-Director, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, Georgetown University

Ramadan Prayer

Ali Mahdi Nouri, UNESCO Ambassador & Secretary General ITI, International Theater Institute & Albuggaa Theatre Company

Ritual of Land Acknowledgment

Emily Johnson, Artistic Director, Emily Johnson/Catalyst
Kelsey Lawson, Director, Native American Student Council, Georgetown University
Jason Tamiru, Producer, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Australia

Our Republic of Imagination

Amb. Cynthia Schneider, Co-Director, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics (Intro.)
Azar Nafisi, best-selling author (Reading Lolita in Tehran); Centennial Fellow, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Here I Am/Here We Are: Georgetown, Student Activism, the Legacy of Slavery, and Performance

Kendell Long, Georgetown Student, Students for GU272 Advocacy Group
Melísande Short-Colomb, Georgetown Student, Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics

On Performing Care

James Thompson, Professor, Practitioner, Writer, University of Manchester

Hopeful Encounters – Part 1 Lab Fellows Demo           

Faisal Abu Alhayjaa, Actor, Comedian, Red Noses International
Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, Actor, Theater Maker; co-Artistic Director, LubDub Theater Company
Velani Dibba, Director, Columbia University
Devika Ranjan, Theater Maker, Ethnographer, Educator; Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Manuel Viveros, Actor, Director; University of Louisville

Renegade Theatre of Nigeria, The Chibok Girls: Our Story and Post-show Discussion

7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 23:30 - 01:30 UTC +0 / 12:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) 

Featuring Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka performing excerpts from his epic poem “A Humanist Ode for Chibok, Leah”
Written and directed by Wole Oguntokun

US Premiere of Renegade Theatre’s searing work of testimonial theater about the abduction of 276 girls from their school in the Nigerian town of Chibok by the Boko Haram in 2014, and the enduring reverberations of their story. 

Post-show discussion with the artists, moderated by Gus Casely-Hayford OBE, Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC.

Thursday 9 May 2019: Where We Are Coming From

Honoring the Past/Shaping the Future

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 15:00 - 16:30 UTC +0 / 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1)

Curated and Led by Todd London, Writer, Gatherer, The Dramatists Guild & The New School

Raymond Caldwell, Producing Artistic Director, Theater Alliance
Maria Goyanes, Artistic Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Michael Rohd, Lead Artist for Civic Imagination, Center for Performance and Civic Practice
Seema Sueko, Deputy Artistic Director, Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
Mark Valdez, Artist, Organizer
Tamilla Woodard, Director, En Garde Arts; Associate Artistic Director, WP Theater; co-founder of PopUP Theatrics
Stephanie Ybarra, Artistic Director, Baltimore Center Stage

Pop-Up Conversation–Rivers and Bones: Dialogue on Ancestry

12:30 p.m.-12:45 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 16:30 - 16:45 UTC +0 / 5:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1)

Nick Slie, Co-Artistic Director, Mondo Bizarro
Jason Tamiru, Producer, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Australia

Sanctuary City: Preview of Scenes/ Reading and Conversation with Playwright Martyna Majok

2 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 18:00 - 19:15 UTC / 7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1)            

Martyna Majok, Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright, Hodder Fellow, Princeton University
Maya Roth (Moderator), Associate Professor of Theater & Performance Studies, Georgetown University
Performed by Dahlia Azama and Babak Tafti, NYC-based actors

Vaclav Havel’s Protest in Conversation

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 19:30 - 21:00 UTC / 8:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1)       

Hon. Madeleine Albright, Former US Secretary of State, Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University
Susan Galbraith, Artistic Director, Alliance for New Music-Theatre
Ambassador Martin Palous, Director of Vaclav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy, Florida International University
Ambassador Cynthia Schneider (Moderator), Co-Director, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics                                               
David Millstone, Actor, Alliance for New Music-Theatre
Drew Valins, Actor, Alliance for New Music-Theatre

Pop-Up Performance: Migration Play

5 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 21:00 - 21:15 UTC / 10:00 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1)              

Written and Performed by Heather Raffo, Playwright, Actor, Lab Think Tank
Introduced by Christine Evans, Playwright, Associate Professor of Theater & Performance Studies, Georgetown University

Friday 10 May 2019: What We Are Facing

Dreaming Beyond Conflict: Theatres of Aspiration—A Suite of Pop-Up Performances

11 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 15:00 - 16:45 UTC +0 / 4 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1)

David J. Diamond (Moderator), Artist, Activist, La MaMa Umbria International; Combatants for Peace 

Pop-Up Performance: Excerpt from Rituals of Signs and Transformations, by Sa’dallah Wannous
Translated and Directed by Robert Myers, Playwright/Professor, American University of Beirut
Performed by Maboud Ebrahimzadeh and Heather Raffo

Pop-Up Performance: Excerpts from The Admission and The Scream and the Silence, by Motti Lerner
Performed by Marty Lodge

Pop-Up Performance: Excerpt from My Brief Affair With Miri Regev: A Response to Shame– by Ari Roth, Artistic Director, Mosaic Theater Company of DC
Performed by Julie-Ann Elliott

Discussion, Moderated by David J. Diamond, Q & A with Actors, Writers and Directors of Above Pop-Ups

12:20 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.                        

Hungarian Cultural Realities and the Theatre of Opposition

2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 18:15 - 17:45 UTC+0 / 7:15 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. BST (London, UTC+1)      

Martin Boross, award-winning director/performer; Artistic Director, Stereo Akt
Máté Gáspár, Director, University of Theatre and Film Arts of Budapest
Jonathan Payne, Playwright
Katie Pearl, Director, Playwright, Social Practice Artist; co-Artistic Director PearlDamour
Howard Shalwitz, Artistic Director Emeritus, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Daniella Topol, Artistic Director, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Philip Arnoult (Moderator), Founder, Director, Center for International Theatre Development

1. Hungarian Cultural Realities
2. Theatre of Opposition: Martin Boross’s Addressless

Pop-Up Performance/ Presentation: Grey Rock, by Amir Nizar Zuabi

4 p.m.-4:20 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 20:00 - 20:20 UTC+0 / 9:00 p.m. -  9:20 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)

Alexandra Aron, Director, Producer, Remote Theater Project
Amir Nizar Zuabi, playwright of Grey Rock (Video Link)

Speaking Freely and Being Seen: Prisons, Justice, and Performance

4:20 p.m. - 5 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 20:20 - 21:00 UTC+0 / 9:20 p.m. - 10 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)           

Marc Howard, Professor of Government and Law; Founding Director, Prisons and Justice Initiative, Georgetown University
Student Presentation from Prof. Marc Howard’s “Making an Exoneree” Course
Video Presentation from The Graduates:
Kathy Randels, Founding Artistic Director, ArtSpot Productions, Founding Co-Director of LCIW Drama Club and The Graduates

Pop-Up Performance – The Arts in Cambodia

5:00 p.m. - 5:20 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 21:00 - 21:20 UTC+0 / 10 p.m. - 10:20 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)        

Sophia Skiles, Actor, Teacher, Policymaker
Phounam Pin, Performer, Phare Circus; Young Leader from Battambang Province, Cambodia
Introduced by Members of The Lab’s Course Politics and Performance: Confronting the Past, Shaping the Future

Pop-Up Performance – Excerpt from Four Quartets

5:15 p.m. - 5:20 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 21:15 - 21:20 UTC+0 / 10:15 p.m. - 10:20 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)     

Saturday 11 May 2019: Where We Are Going

Civic Practice:  When Artists Deploy Their Assets Outside Arts Sectors

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 15:00 - 16:00 UTC+0 / 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)             

Jasmin Cardenas, Arts Activist, Deviser, Storyteller, Facilitator, Actor, Chicago Workers Collaborative
Mark Valdez, Mark Valdez, Artist, Organizer
Michael Rohd (Moderator), Lead Artist for Civic Imagination, Center for Performance and Civic Practice

Pop-Up Performance – Temples of Lung and Air

12 p.m. - 12:15 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 12:00 - 12:15 UTC+0 / 5:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)     

Written and Performed by Kane Smego, Writer, Performer, Next Level
Introduced by: Joseph Megel, Director New Works, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Grief, Hope, and Climate Performance

2pm-2:45pm EDT (New York UTC-4) / 18:00 - 18:45 UTC+0 / 7:00 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.  BST (London UTC+1)       

Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, Actor, Theater Maker, Lab Fellows Program; LubDub Theater Company
Annalisa Dias, Theater Maker, Community Organizer, Groundwater Arts
Robert Duffley, Dramaturg, LubDub Theater Company; Editor & Asst. Dramaturg, A.R.T.
Jessica Grindstaff, artist, director, set designer; Artistic Director, Phantom Limb Company
Miranda Rose Hall, Playwright, LubDub Theater Company
Roberta Levitow (moderator), Senior Program Associate Sundance Institute Theatre Program; Co-Founder and Director, Theatre Without Borders

Toward the Future Roundtable Part 1 – Theater and Resilience

3pm-3:45pm  /         

Khaled Abol Naga, Film, Television, and Stage Actor, Producer, and Director
Iman Aoun, Iman Aoun, Director, Actor, ASHTAR Theater
Sopheak Soung, Playwright, Theater-maker and Educator
Joanna Sherman, Artistic Director, Bond Street Theater
Reem Al Sayyah (video link), Performer, Deviser, Educator, Project Leader, Lab Fellows Program
James Thompson (Moderator), Professor, Practitioner, Writer, University of Manchester

Toward the Future Roundtable Part 2 - Laughter and Survival

4 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 20:00 - 20:30 UTC+0 / 9 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)          

Shahid Nadeem, Journalist, Playwright, Screenwriter, Director, Human Rights Activist; Founding Director, Ajoka Theatre, Lahore, Pakistan
Faisal Abu Alhayjaa, Actor, Comedian, Lab Fellows Program
Nikahang Kowsar, Board Member, Cartoonists Rights Network
Cynthia Schneider (Moderator), Co-Director, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics

Radical Listening and Performance as Call and Response: Performing One Another

4:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 20:45 - 21:15 UTC+0 / 9:30 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)     

Pop-Up Performance: Excerpt from In Your Shoes, an original collaborative dialogue-based performance project co-created by students from Georgetown University and Patrick Henry College
Directed by Derek Goldman, Co-Director, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics

Performed by:
Kate Oelkers, Student, Georgetown University
Hope Sluka, Student,Patrick Henry College

Closing Thoughts/Where We Go from Here

5:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 21:15 - 21:30 UTC+0 / 10:15 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)                                        

Closing Ritual – All

5:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. EDT (New York UTC-4) / 21:30 - 22:00 UTC+0 / 10:30 p.m. - 11 p.m. BST (London UTC+1)   

Emily Johnson, Artistic Director, Emily Johnson/Catalyst
Kelsey Lawson, Director, Native American Student Council
Ali Mahdi Nouri, UNESCO Ambassador & Secretary General ITI, International Theater Institute & Albuggaa Theatre Company
Jason Tamiru, Producer, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Australia

Closing Performance: Four Quartets, by TS Eliot (Part 2)
Performed by Kathleen Chalfant

About HowlRound TV

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.