The Assembly: Seagullmachine

Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 7:00pm
Ring Family Performing Arts Hall

FREE!

Seagullmachine is a mash-up of two iconic riffs on the story of William Shakespeare's Hamlet—Anton Chekov's The Seagull and Heiner Muller's Hamletmachine—performed by The Assembly, a collective of multi-disciplinary performance artists. Conceived by Nick Benacerraf ’08 who co-directs with Jess Chayes '07, the work combines immersive staging, live video, poetry, comedy, and tragedy to excavate the legacy of 20th-century drama in the light of the present day.

This pared-down lecture-performance reunites six of the thirteen actors who premiered the show at the Tony Award-winning La MaMa ETC in April 2018. The performance at Wesleyan will be followed by a discussion with the directors, designers, and cast as part of the Center for the Humanities series of theater events "Hyperbole in Performance." The series begins on Thursday, February 14, 2019 at 7pm with a performance of Michael + Patrick's A Doll's House, Part 3.

Other Wesleyan alumni who were involved in the world premiere of Seagullmachine at La MaMa in April 2018 included Dramaturg Stephen Aubrey '06; performers Emily Caffery '10, Edward Bauer '08, and Daniel Maseda '16; Co-Scenic Designer Emmie Finckel '14; Assistant Director Miranda Haymon '16; and Props Designer Jess Cummings '17.

Listen to an interview with The Assembly's Co-Artistic Directors Nick Benacerraf and Jess Chayes by Professor of English and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Director of the Center for the Humanities Natasha Korda on the Center for the Arts Radio Hour:



Listen to a conversation with Director of the Center for the Arts Sarah Curran and Associate Director for Programming and Performing Arts Fiona Coffey about some of the highlights of the spring 2019 season at Wesleyan on the Center for the Arts Radio Hour:

Image by Marina McClure.