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The Theatre Department hosts celebrated stage director, educator, essayist and theater visionary Anne Bogart next week for the inaugural event in a new lecture series that focuses on theater and performing arts.
Bogart will present “What’s the Story: The Role of Storytelling in the Theater of the 21st Century and Beyond” April 30 at 7 p.m. in Gasson 100. Her talk, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored through the Matthew R. DeVoy and John H. DeVoy IV Perspectives on Theatre Series. [Seating is limited for the event; for reservations, contact the Theatre Department at ext.4012 or theatre@bc.edu, or go to http://tinyurl.com/k2ers7q.]
One of three co-artistic directors of the SITI Company, Bogart founded the innovative ensemble theater in 1992 with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki. SITI’s mission focuses on the creation of original theater work, professional performance training, national and international touring, and collaboration with artists and writers from other disciplines.
She has directed the majority of company’s productions, including award-winning works performed in the Boston area.
“There is no better person than Anne Bogart to launch the DeVoy Perspectives on Theatre Series,” said Associate Professor Scott T. Cummings, Theatre Department chair. “As director, teacher, author, and instigator of collaborative conversations, her influence on the American theatre is profound and wide-ranging. What she is thinking about is always of interest.”
Made possible by a gift from the DeVoy family of Newton, Mass., the series will annually bring leading professionals and creative forces in theater and the performing arts to BC, to share their experiences and vision with the campus community, as well as alumni and community members.
Bogart’s lecture is based on her forthcoming book, What’s the Story: Essays about Art, Theater and Storytelling, due for release within days of her BC appearance. She explores how contemporary theater artists can renew their connection with the primal impulse to tell stories as a way of making sense of the world.
A Columbia University School of the Arts professor, she heads the MFA graduate program in directing and has written other books on creativity and theatrical process. Her most recent collaborative project – “Steel Hammer,” based on the folk legend of John Henry – premiered last month at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New Plays.
She has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades during her distinguished career in American theater.