The producers of the play: Erin Cherry; Bashir Solebo; Mfoniso Udofia; Chichi Anyanwu; and Ngozi Anyanwu. Photo Credit: Terria Clay Photography
[Theater]
NOW AFRICA: Playwrights Festival is a reading series, conceptualized by playwright Mfoniso Udofia and developed/produced with Chinyere Anyanwu, Ngozi Anyanwu, Erin Cherry and Bashir Solebo. This team will reintroduce New York City to the masters of African Dramatic Literature. These master playwrights include: Ama Ata Aidoo, Tawfiq al Hakim, Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiong’o. This festival will also introduce New York City to the incoming classes of contemporary African playwrights.
This inaugural event will be hosted by the Center for Art & Public Policy and the Institute of Performing Arts at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Anna Deavere Smith’s Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.
DAY 1 of the festival, Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 7pm, will be located located at 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor, Room 503, New York, NY 10003. This day will feature a performative reading of Binyavanga Wainaina’s incendiary and satirical piece, “How to Write About Africa.” Afterwards there will be facilitated discussion on the implication of Wainaina’s piece and the radical movements currently occurring within contemporary African dramatic arts. A showcase of excerpts from African playwrights will close this day.
DAY 2 of the festival, Sunday, September 27 at 730pm will be located is located in the black-box theatre of the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program on 715 Broadway, NY, NY [2nd floor]. This evening will include a reading of African playwright, Mfoniso Udofia’s, full length play, runboyrun and a talk back.
DAY 3, the final day of the festival Monday, September 28, 2015 at 7pm, will be located in the Reise Lounge at the Tisch School of the Arts on 721 Broadway, NY, NY. Excerpts of plays [precolonial-postcolonial] will be juxtaposed with their contemporary counterparts in order to assess/contemplate how African narratives are changing over time.
Tickets are free for all events. LIMITED SEATING. Please RSVP at: [email protected]
