February 8, 2016

Granoff Center, Studio One

Gwendolyn Alker, New York University Department of Drama, was to present  Listen I feel: A lecture/workshop on the plays of Maria Irene Fornés. The event was planned as  a hybrid talk/workshop, beginning with 30 minutes of context and lecture, followed by 30 minutes of movement and writing exercises, and ending with  30 minutes of group participation and reflection.

(the event was cancelled due to poor weather)The public was invited to an informal conversation with Professor Alker, filmmaker Michelle Memran, and playwright Katie Pearl to talk more broadly about the residency.

Professor Alker’s visit was part of a residency with Memran and Pearl, designed to catalyze and provide framework for a multi-faceted investigation into the life and work of Cuban-American playwright Maria “Irene” Fornés. It was sponsored by TAPS, and the CAC through a FITT Residency.

Gwendolyn Alker is a teacher, scholar, dramaturge, and curator of events that seek to move between the theory and practice of performance. She has been a full time faculty member in the Department of Drama since 2003, where she teaches theatre and performance studies including classes on gender, Latina/o performance and embodiment. As of 2015 she is the Editor of the prestigious Theatre Topics, where she most recently oversaw the publication of a special issue entitled, “Theatre and/as Education.” As a curator, she created and organized the New York Fornes Festival in 2010 and the 25th Anniversary Conference of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in 2011.