Democracy is coming
The Public Theater andOnassis USA today announced additional FREE programming and participants for the ONASSIS FESTIVAL 2019: DEMOCRACY IS COMING, running April 10-28 at The Public Theater and also La MaMa. Actors Phylicia Rashad and André Holland, performer/singer-songwriter Diana Oh, architect Elizabeth Diller, author Siri Hustvedt, and Kostis Velonis’ art installation Life Without Tragedy join the Festival lineup.
The 19-day Onassis Festival is a festival of arts and ideas that celebrates, evaluates, and considers anew the concept of democracy—perhaps the most renowned Greek innovation. Through a multidisciplinary program of theater, music, talks, and more, The Public Theater and Onassis USA, two agitators of public curiosity—one Greek, one American—bring together artists and thinkers from both countries to offer artistic interpretations and embodiments of democracy. The Festival is anchored by The Public’s new production of Tim Blake Nelson’s Socrates featuring Michael Stuhlbarg as Socrates and directed by Doug Hughes, running April 2-May 19.
OnMonday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m., Public Forum will present OF, BY, AND FOR THE PEOPLE in the Anspacher Theater. Theater and democracy share a birthplace, share fundamental tenets, and provide opportunities for the people to activate and understand their own power. But in a world where both the arts and democracy are increasingly under threat, what does it mean to be a “fundamentally democratic” theater? And how can the theater continue to encourage our best hopes for democracy? Featuring The Public’s Artistic Director Oskar Eustisand The Public’s Master Writer Chair Suzan-Lori Parks in a conversation with philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah; the event will also include new announced performances from André Holland (Much Ado About Nothing, Academy Award-winning film Moonlight) and Diana Oh (24 Hour Punk at Joe’s Pub).
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On Monday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m. the Public Shakespeare Initiative will welcome Tony Award-winner Phylicia Rashad (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) for PUBLIC SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS: WHAT’S HECUBA TO HIM? GREEK TRAGIC WOMEN ON SHAKESPEARE’S STAGE in the Martinson Hall. Ancient Greek plays – and in particular, their titanic, tragic women – exerted a powerful and uncharted influence on Shakespeare's dramatic landscape. When Hamlet reflects on the moving power of tragic performance, he turns to the most prominent of them: “What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba/That he should weep for her?” Through commentary and readings from Euripides and Shakespeare, theater scholar Tanya Pollard and actors Isabel Arraiza, Tina Benko, and Ayana Workman, in addition to Phylicia Rashad, will illustrate how Greek plays and their towering female figures challenged Shakespeare to reimagine the affective possibilities of tragedy, comedy, and the emerging genre of tragicomedy.
On Sunday, April 14, the Festival will present a DAY OF DEMOCRACY in the Shiva Theater at The Public. These three conversations will examine democracy's intersections with our everyday life. At2:00 p.m., DEMOCRACY IS THE CITY will include architect Alfredo Brillembourg, Onassis USA Senior Advisor Karen Brooks Hopkins, and artist/historian Kamau Ware, plus a performance from singer Morley; at 4:00 p.m., DEMOCRACY IS DIGITAL will include international public policy advisor Micaela Klein, Assistant Professor of Media Design at Parsons Katherine Moriwaki, and Buzzfeed News Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, with a performance from Elle Winston; and at 6:00 p.m., DEMOCRACY IS COMING will feature civil and human rights lawyer Nora Benavidez, Executive Editor of The American Interest Damir Marusic, Founding Editor of Jacobin Magazine Bhaskar Sunkara, and What is Democracy filmmaker Astra Taylor, as well as remarks from architect Elizabeth Diller and a performance from Imani Uzuri.
LIFE WITHOUT TRAGEDY, an art installation by Kostis Velonis, can be seen free of charge, at Astor Place South Plaza from April 10 through April 30. Velonis’ interest in democracy encounters ancient Greek tragedy, and the artwork consists of three sculptures, constructed of wood, that mimic an ancient Greek amphitheater. He identifies the notion of democracy with Greek tragedy, since the theater in ancient Greece was not only a form of art, but also a social institution.
Public Theater Partner, Public Supporter, Member, and full price tickets are available now for ticketed Festival events. Tickets can be accessed by calling (212) 967-7555, visiting www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.
