School Notes: David Geffen School of Drama
November/December 2011

The Freedom Theatre comes to Yale

Yale School of Drama hosted a special presentation October 5 by company members of Palestine’s Freedom Theatre, which is the only professional venue for theater and multimedia in the north of the West Bank in occupied Palestine. It was founded in 2006 by Juliano Mer-Khamis and Jonathan Stanczyk, a Swedish-Israeli. The event included a theatrical introduction to the theater’s work, a video featuring highlights of their productions performed in Palestine, and a discussion of the impact and legacy of the theater’s founder, Israeli-Palestinian actor and director Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was murdered in April 2011 in front of the theater.

Season explores human foibles

The drama school’s 2011–12 season features three vividly imagined theatrical productions that explore some all-too-human follies: making deals with the Devil; believing appearances; and wanting what, or whom, we cannot have. The productions, created and performed by students at the School of Drama, are Gertrude Stein’s Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12MFA, which ran October 25–29; Shakespeare’s Cymbeline,directed by Louisa Proske ’12MFA, December 10–16; and Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, directed by Alexandru Mihail ’12MFA, January 24–28.

Bringing the world to the Yale stage

West African dance, Russian music, and Chilean theater provide the international flavor to the 2011–12 season ofNo Boundaries: A Series of Global Performances, presented by Yale Repertory Theatre and the World Performance Project at Yale. November sees the American premiere ofEngagement Féminin: An Evening of West African Contemporary Dance, created and performed by Art’ Dév/Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue, based in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Following this in February will be Spectral Scriabin, a collaboration between pianist Eteri Andjaparidze and lighting designer Jennifer Tipton (who teaches at the School of Drama), featuring the music of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin; and in March, Neva, an ensemble theater piece performed by Chile’s Teatro en el Blanco.